


Hook, Line, and Sinker

by writehandman



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Anal Sex, Angst, Comedian Gabriel, Dorks in Love, F/F, F/M, I dont fucking know - Freeform, M/M, Marriage, Mermaids, Oops, Oral Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sharks, ah yes putting my knowledge of one island to use, hospitals and shit for a few seconds or whatever, kind of, mermaid sam, sleepy goopy lovey dovey morning sex, this fic is t rated 11/12 chapters, this is kind of based on the little mermaid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-28
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-11-06 02:18:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 37,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11026536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writehandman/pseuds/writehandman
Summary: After being dumped by his long-time girlfriend, comedian Gabriel Novak jumps at the chance to escape from his brothers apartment and the worried glances of his siblings. Winding up off the coast of California, on Catalina Island, Gabriel partakes in a catch, record, and release project. But when he catches something (correction: someone) he never bargained for the changes that would come with it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my wonderful beta, [Andy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mister_dove/pseuds/mister_dove) !

When Gabriel got home to his and his girlfriend's apartment, he wasn't sure if a tornado had hit or what. The couch was bare of its (tacky) throw pillows, and the blankets that were typically thrown haphazardly over the couch by him and then folded neatly by Kali were gone. So was his key holder, which was missing off the half broken nightstand that they kept by the door, and from what he could see from the door, the hall on the way to the bedroom looked like a war zone. The drawers were taken out of the dresser, along with all the clothes in them, and scattered across the hardwood floor. Then he noticed the various cardboard boxes marked 'Gabriel' in graceful, flowing script.

"Kal? Kali, babe, where are you?" He called out nervously, shucking his jacket off and putting it on the table, along with his keys. Toeing his shoes off, he walked through the narrow hallway towards their bedroom, peeking in.

Kali was dressed to kill, like always, in wedge heels that made her tower over him more than she usually did. Which was still quite a bit, if he was being honest. Now, Gabriel wasn't short in any respect, but neither was Kali. She just happened to be... Less short than him.

His anxiety doubled when she turned around, two fairly large boxes tucked against her chest, and held in place with her chin. Definitely didn't help that they were also labeled 'Gabriel' and that, as far as he could see, none of his stuff was currently in the room.

"Hello, Gabriel." She said coolly, thrusting the boxes at him. "This relationship is not working out for us. I'm dumping you."

She turned back around, inspecting the room to see if she'd missed anything else, while Gabriel worked his jaw in a desperate attempt to form anything even slightly coherent. For a stand-up comedian, he was pretty awful with trying to come up with anything that didn't start with 'What' and end with 'the fuck.'

She nodded, seemingly satisfied with her destruction of the room, and apparently, Gabriel's life.

"Why are you standing there, breathing like a dying trout? I said we're breaking up. Get your stuff, Gabriel." Kali huffed, stalking out of the room, her heels clacking on the floor, and echoing as if amplified a thousand times.

He scrambled to grab the third box over by the bed and balanced it with the other two, still dumbstruck. "Wait! Kali!" He yelled as he dashed out into their living room, where he was met with the depressing sight of at least six more boxes.

She turned to look at him, eyebrows raised into almost perfect arches. Damn her expertly sculpted eyebrows. Damn them to hell. "Yes?"

"Why? Why would you do this? I thought we had it good!"

She laughed, malice filling her voice as she looked at him in bewilderment. "Good? Gabriel, I haven't seen you in three weeks, and for those three weeks, you couldn't even be bothered to text me, much less call. Not to mention, you've practically been ignoring me for months. You think I don't know that I'm the butt of your jokes? I'm not an idiot. I've listened to your poor excuse for comedy, and I'm not impressed. Just because somebody gave you a microphone and you're a douchebag, doesn't make you funny. I've packed all of your shit. Get out of my apartment."

"What! No! Kal- you gotta understand, they're just jokes! I love you! And I've been busy; I didn't mean anything by it! C'mon babe-" He begged, grabbing her elbow desperately.

Kali tugged it away with a huff, her already low patience wearing even thinner. "I'm sick of your excuses. 'Oh, Kali, sorry we can't go out tonight, I just thought of something funny'!" She mocked. "Or, 'Oops! I bet our motel key on a can of diet orange slice, and lost! Silly me'! No more excuses Gabriel. We're done. Get out of my apartment." Pointing at the door, she made the point clearer by shoving another one of the boxes into his chest, knocking the first one to the floor.

"K-Kali-"

"No. I don't want to hear it." She bent down and picked up more boxes, setting them outside of apartment door. "Help, won't you?" Kali said in a dangerously low tone as she passed him.

He nodded almost mechanically, still attempting to process what the fuck was actually going on, when he finally got the last box out, Kali grabbed his jacket and keys off the table. She slid his apartment key off the key ring and took his keycard. Then she dropped the keys into his palm and threw the jacket at him.

And then she shut and locked the door in his face.

He sat dumbfounded in front of the door, practically knocked on his ass between the cardboard boxes. Holy shit. Gabriel just got dumped. For real this time. Not like the other times when she'd thrown him out for a few hours, and then called him when she got over whatever had started their argument. And he'd been ring shopping too. He really loved Kali, had for a while. Hell, he'd stayed in New York for her! Even with the recent comedy tour that had just finished, he had planned on staying home more so they could get closer.

Too bad he didn't have a home anymore.

Fuck.

He looked up hopefully when he heard the lock click back open, only to beaned in the head with his toothbrush tucked hastily into a ziplock bag. Then the door shut again, Leaving Gabriel alone in the world with eight cardboard boxes and a broken heart.

"God damn." Somebody whistled from behind him.

Whipping his head around, he saw their neighbor Bauldur standing there, looking like a smug bitch. Cat got the cream and all that jazz.

"That was brutal." He patted his shoulder sympathetically. "But hey, buddy, the good news is, Kali's gonna need a rebound." Bauldur grinned and walked off. Probably to the depths of hell where he spawned from.

Asshole.

\-----

It started to become real on the third day as he sat on the floor of his older brothers shoebox apartment, cradling a bottle of tequila and an unused glass. With crumbling walls and canary yellow furniture, Lucifer's place looked straight out of one of those 'House renovation fails' you always saw on the Lifetime channel.

Especially since at some point, a previous owner had decided to try and give the place a little more 'cheer' by painting both the kitchen and the bedroom a vivid turquoise blue. Luce always joked that, at the least, it made it the rent that much cheaper because no one in their right mind would rent this dump. Except him apparently. But that was also lumping him into 'in the right mind' territory, and that was just lying at that point.

"So, Lil bro. Seeing as you're gonna end up with a terrible hangover as it is, how do you feel about a glass of water, eh?" Lucifer said cheerfully, snatching the tequila out of Gabriel's grasp and holding it hostage above the world's ugliest couch. "C'mon, I didn't give you a key so you could let yourself into my castle, and drink all my booze, Gabe."

Gabriel broke into a fresh wave of tears. "Kali used to call me Gabe too!" He wailed, burying his face in his hands. "She said that Gabriel was too long to cry out during sex!"

"Jesus Christ, that, was a total TMI." Lucifer groaned, reaching over Gabriel's head and setting the bottle down on his coffee table. "I definitely don't need to deal with you like this. You wanna drink your feelings? Go ahead. You've only got one liver, Lil brother." He collapsed on the cushions, stretching out and patting Gabriel's head from where he was sitting on the floor. "But no offense? You're being prett-ty pathetic."

Gabe sniffled from the floor. "B-but, I loved her Luci!"

"Aw, tough luck buttercup. I loved setting fires too. But apparently, that's called 'arson, ' and it's 'illegal'." He snorted. "Look, let's go to a bar, max out your credit card on alcohol and strippers, yeah? Then, you can go home with some girl, get covered in glitter and bodily fluids, and forget about what's-her-face."

"... I'm pretty s-sure Kali and arson are two different things." He hiccuped. "And I don't want to get laid so soon... I really love Kali... God, I miss her so much!" He wailed, turning and burying his face in the couch cushions.

"Okay, y'know what, you want a pity party, let's call Cas, yeah?"

"You have more alcohol," Gabriel muttered, eyeing the tequila like a man who'd been stuck in the desert for three years eyed fresh, cold, water.

"Ha! I fuckin knew it!" The blond crowed, sitting up triumphantly. "You just use me for my booze! I'm wounded, little brother. That's it; I'm not indulging your self-loathing, woe-is-me party for any longer! Get up, and take a fuckin shower." Lucifer ruffled his brother's hair before he grimaced, wiping his hands on his jeans. "You're greasier than two sorority girls jello wrestling."

"Noooo..." He moaned miserably, drawing his knees to his chest. "Just gimme the alcohol, Luce."

"I will call Michael, Gabe. Get up. We both don't want to deal with our brother, but I will call him. For your sake as much as mine." Lucifer threatened, laying back down on the couch.

"Fine- fine- I'll get up," Gabriel whined, grabbing at the couch behind him and accidentally digging the heel of his palm into Lucifer's stomach.

"Ow! Fuck!" His brother cursed, shooting up and throwing him off balance, and crashing to the floor. Lucifer looked down at him in annoyance. "You little shit. You're too drunk to even stand up right."

"Not drunk...." He huffed from the ground, pulling his arm over his face, burying his nose into the crook of his elbow. "Call it... I dunno, tipsy or whatever."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." He rolled his eyes. "I'm taking you to Cassie's house."

Gabriel just groaned.

\-----

"Gabriel?"

"Uh- hi Cassie! Um, yeah, okay Luce was right... I'm drunk..."  He grinned apologetically.

"Did- please tell me you didn't drive here brother." Castiel's eyes widened in horror.

"What? Oh no, Luci dropped me off! Said he had to go meet his parole officer, so he couldn't stay."

Cas frowned at him but opened the door to his apartment wider so Gabriel could get in.

It sure was convenient to have two of his brothers less an hour away from each other. It wasn't like he had many friends as it was.

"Is Kali on a business trip?" His youngest brother asked, shutting the door behind him and his suitcase.

"N-no..." He said quietly. "She, uh, she dumped me." It was like ripping a bandaid off a hairy leg to say it out loud. A very, very sticky bandaid, on a very hairy leg.

"Oh. I'm very sorry Gabriel." He said in what was a surprisingly sympathetic tone for Cas. So, it was really just a mix of his normal voice, confusion, and then sadness.

"Yeah... Me too. All my stuff is at Luci's. He said he'd drop it off on his day off." He said, shrugging, aiming for nonchalance, but sounding more like someone had just made him shoot his puppy.

Cas pulled him into an awkward hug. Gabriel ended up getting a lungful of tan trenchcoat as he was crushed into his brother's chest.

"Uh- Cassie- kiddo, loosen up the bone crusher, yeah?" He choked out weakly.

"Oh. Yes, I apologize. Sorry." He said sheepishly, letting go and stepping back. "Um, make yourself at home. I'll set up the couch for you to sleep on, alright?"

"Yeah, sure Cas." He nodded, sudden exhaustion hitting him. Gabriel wanted to do nothing but curl up into the fetal position and block the world out. Wandering out to the living room, he remembered to take his shoes off and trudged back to drop them by the door, before turning around and collapsing on the big couch. Life. Fucking. Blew. And not even in the fun way.

\-----

"Gabriel, I'm worried," Cas said one night, from where he was tucked into the side of an armchair, his book carefully bookmarked instead of dog-eared like any other person would do.

"Hm? What Cassie?" He looked up tiredly, the bags under his eyes dark enough to get even the most emo kid feeling jealous.

His brother pointed at the glass of cheap liquor store whiskey he was clutching like a lifeline. "You're drinking yourself into an early grave, Gabriel... Do you want to become a depressed old drunk like father did after your mother died?"

He peered into the glass, the brown liquid sloshing against the glass in his hand shook. Gabriel put it down, disgusted with himself. "No."

"Then you must get sober brother. Drink lots of water and the last colors that you brought last time, to detox. You're going to be painfully hungover." Castiel looked at him, eyes sad, and face drawn into lines that made him look as exhausted as Gabriel felt.

"Okay- okay I can do this." He nodded.

\-----

Being sober fucking sucked. Gabriel couldn't see out of his right eye; the migraine was so bad. He'd spent much longer hunched over the porcelain throne, vomiting up stuff he hadn't seen in years than he'd like to admit. Like, he could've sworn he saw the penny he swallowed junior year of high school come up too.

He did it though. Suffered the raging headaches and nausea, and even the migraines went away. To celebrate his sobriety, he went to see what Cassie had in the fridge. Bingo, cream soda. Gabriel pulled one out of the cardboard box and twisted the top off. He went back to the living room. He turned on his laptop and tried to decide what to do. Porn was probably not a good idea, seeing as his brother could come home at any minute, and instead started scrolling through Craigslist, looking for cheap apartments up for lease in the area. Cas didn't need to put up with his shit constantly, so why not try and get a place of his own?

When he didn't find anything he wanted, he started checking by state and turned up with nothing reasonable that was even close to health code. It was discouraging, to say the least. Nothing but shoeboxes and beautiful townhouse condos way out of his price range.

He opened up another tab on his laptop, putting his feet up on the coffee table and slouching till his head was in the middle of the backrest on the couch. He started looking for jobs locally. He'd already been staying at Cas's for almost two weeks; he could at least help out by paying rent if he couldn't get his pen apartment. Maybe it would help him recover, by working and getting out of the house regularly.

Gabriel stared at the bottle sadly, no amount of cream soda could ever heal the hole in his heart, but at least it could fill the hole in his stomach.

But as Gabriel poured over tab after tab of job offers, he couldn't find anything that wasn't minimum wage or pushing papers at a desk job. He didn't have enough new material to craft a new album, and all his shows were done for the year. Hell, his agent had gone on a two-month vacation with her family.

Good for her, at least. Having a family and everything.

Aw fuck, he'd just made himself sad. Again.

He scrolled down to the bottom of the page, clicking the 'next' arrow.

Snakes Eyes: Bartender, 2-3 years of experience, pays $15 and hour

Pass.

Lions Gate Finance Firm: Clerk, 4-5 years experience minimum, must have at least a bachelor's, pays $17 per hour

Oh god, PASS

_CICRR: Marine biology haven, Catalina Island is doing its fifth survey of sea life this September. No prior experience is required. Must be able to swim face down in deep water. $16 per hour. All travel fees are covered for applicants in the continental United States._

_Well, that looked intriguing. It wasn't a paper farm at least. Clicking the link led Gabriel to a simple and clean website with the PDF application attached to a sidebar along with contact information. He started reading the description._

_CICRR (or Catalina Island Catch Record and Release) is proud to be doing its fifth set of ocean life surveying. Starting fifty years ago with Professor Julia Daniels, every decade a team of_ experts _and a handful of volunteers who are the backbone of the project, have reliably recorded, and informed the public of any new marine developments, such as the more recent recovery of the guitar ray, previously on the endangered list. Thanks to the efforts of these people, in 2006, these creatures made it off the list, starting to thrive and develop an even healthier and more balanced ecosystem. This year, Professors Fergus 'Crowley' Macleod and Professor Balthazar Gregor are running the program in September. Volunteers will be not be compensated for all travel costs. Room and board are provided at no cost. If you are interested in applying, please fill out the attached PDF and email it to CICRR@mbusd.net fully completed. A limited number of volunteers will be accepted, so respond quickly. Up to 40 college credits are available for UC students._

_Best,_

_CICRR staff._

Well. Would it really hurt to fill out an application? He fit all the requirements anyway and had always wanted to visit California. What better time to try. Not like he had anyone who would care if he was gone for a few months.

He downloaded the PDF and printed it out on Cas's laser jet thingy, filled it out, scanned it, and for added benefit, attached his resume in the email.

Feeling accomplished, and marginally better, he chugged the rest of the soda and pushed the empty bottle away. If he could apply for something as nuts and unorthodox as marine biology, well, he sure as hell could put on some pants... Later.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

It was a weird surprise to get a response back from the CICRR guys two weeks later. He clicked it, expecting a blanket 'we're sorry, but you were not selected for this program, blah blah blah' rejection email, but instead, he got a 'Thank you for your application, Gabriel Novak. Welcome to the team' email.

Scanning it briefly, he found the travel instructions. He would need to be in L.A. by September 5th and would leave August 18th. More than a month. It informed him that there would most definitely be a washing machine available and to pack a hat, sunglasses, shorts and t-shirts, along with a strong recommendation to bring both sunscreen and aloe vera. They would be responsible for paying for their travel and would not be compensated. Although, thinking about it, the whole ‘16 dollars an hour’ thing sounded like it would more than pay for travel if housing was included.

Gabriel pulled up another tab and his wallet out, readjusting on Castiel's lumpy couch. He snaked his credit card out from between the leather folds and pulled up the American Airlines website. He ended up booking his flight for September fourth, Gabriel always planned to give himself a little leeway. He wasn't new to the whole 'attention flight blah blah blah, we are so super sorry, but your flight has been canceled' thing, and had learned not to risk it. After he missed a show in Dallas, Gabriel always went at least a day early. Well, after his manager's  _ constant  _ insistence. They'd had some pretty angry rednecks yelling at them and filling up inboxes and voicemail. And they'd already gotten their full refund.

He got up tiredly, looking at the boxes stacked neatly against the wall (his brothers doing, obviously) and wondering if he should start packing now.

Well, fuck it. It's not like he had anything to do anyways. He walked to the kitchen and grabbed a knife, attacking the packing tape sealing the tops of them.

As he pulled out clothing, shirts first, then he got to the socks and underwear, he started reliving everything he and Kali had done together. He held out a hideous purple shirt that her mother. He had gotten it for him the last time he went to India with her for the holidays. He smiled sadly. Ruchi was a firecracker of a woman, and he would have been proud to have her as a mother-in-law. But oh boy, had that ship sailed. And burned. And then sunk. Twice.

How depressing was it that he couldn't even look at a shirt without thinking of his ex? God, he needed to get laid. Or get over her. Both.

He sighed, resuming pulling all his shit out of the boxes and deciding what to pack.

Swimsuit? Check. As many Hawaiian shirts as he owned? Check. (It was four of them. He wasn't  _ that  _ tasteless.) Shorts quickly followed, then jeans, then sweaters and a windbreaker. He sat on the top of it and started to zip it before he remembered underwear. He went into the other box and dug out his boxers and about twelve pairs of balled up socks. He started stuffing them into the sides of the already full, lime green suitcase, before putting a knee on the top and shifting his weight to try and get it to close.

When it latched, and he got it zipped up, he sat back onto the hardwood floor and grinned. This deserved celebrating; celebrating in the form of beer and brownies.

\-----

The airplane ride over to California was pretty uneventful. They hit a little turbulence over the Rockies, but the pilot was pretty capable and got their plane to coast the bumps as smoothly as possible. Apart from waiting for his luggage for over an hour, Gabriel considered the trip a success. He walked out of the terminal, and immediately was hit by the warm air and the golden glow of street lamps that lined the sidewalk along the airport, and hailed a cab.

A prisons pulled up, painted green and white with the little plastic triangle up on the top, naming the company as 'EcoCabs', with 'Happy Drivers for Happy Customers' as the tag line. Which was just silly. If you were an annoyed customer, would you get an annoyed driver? The analogy just didn't fit right with any other emotion.

"Hello, there sir." The cab driver greeted him, grinning. "Can I help you with your bags?" The guy had just a hint of a southern accent, sounding like he belonged more in an Armadillo Willy's commercial than driving a cab.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks." He returned the awkward smile and passed him his suitcase.

"And where are you going today?" The man didn't even show the usual mix of disgust and surprise at the color of Gabriel's suitcase that most people expressed as he loaded it into the back of his Prius. (It was an almost neon lime green, his sister, Anna, had gotten him it for Christmas a few years back.)

"Oh, um Long Beach."

"You going traveling?" The cabbie grinned, shutting the trunk and holding open the passenger side door for him.

Sliding in and turning his phone off airplane mode, Gabriel nodded. "Yep. Taking part in some environmental survey shit, I think." He set his backpack down by his feet, water bottle jangling merrily.

"Oh, then you must be going to Catalina then! How fun. I took my kids there a couple of years ago. What a gorgeous island." He smiled wistfully. "The hiking is fantastic." The cabbie reached over to the middle of the dashboard, switching the counter on.

"Think you could give me a ballpark number here?" Gabriel asked, eying it.

"Er, it's what, twenty, thirty miles? At most, 65. Maybe 50 depending on traffic."

"Oh. Alright." He nodded. The only thing and New York he'd miss would be the ability to walk everywhere. Nobody drove there. Too much traffic.

"Do you mind if I turn the music on?" The cabbie asked, hand hovering over the touch screen.

"Go nuts man." He shrugged. "Your taxi."

The dude smiled and turned it on to the top forty station.

_ You're listening to wild ninety-five seven, with your host, Tim Green. _

\-----

After shelling out sixty dollars to the cab driver, Gabriel sat down on one of the park benches tucked along the marina. He pulled up google maps and found the closest hotel he could, a best western about five blocks away, on East first street.

That had always confused him anyway. If it's first street, why do you have to divide it? Just name it something else! There was no reason for there to be eight Main Streets in the span of two miles. Just name the other ones after some dead revolutionary soldier like everywhere else.

He argued with an imaginary opponent in his head as he walked down the streets about naming as he followed his phone to the hotel.

His suitcase clattered merrily behind him as he stepped through the sliding glass doors and into the tastefully decorated lobby, subtle siennas and browns complementing the leather furniture grouped around the faux fireplace with wall lamps mounted on every corner.

"Can I get a room for the night?" He asked the falsely cheerful lady at the front desk.

"Sure thing dearie." She nodded, turning around and picking up one of the room keys, which were hanging off nails in the walls. "A single good for you?"

"Yeah, definitely." Gabriel nodded, pulling his credit card out from his wallet, and offering it to her.

She plucked it deftly from his fingers, long red nails sliding it through the register and then passing it back, printing a receipt. She pushed the receipt towards him with a pen. "Sign here please."

He did and quickly scrawled his signature across the line.

"You have a nice day... Mr. Novak." She said, glancing at the receipt as he walked off.

He checked the little green floaty toy attached to his key for the number. 144. So, ground floor, probably on the backside. He found it after wandering the halls for a bit. Opening the door, he set his suitcase beside the dresser and sat on the bed, sliding his backpack off and unpacking his laptop. He found the wifi password on his copy of the receipt and typed it in.

Since Gabriel had nowhere to be for the next fourteen hours and had a date with his left hand and the folder on his computer called 'legal records'. He made sure the door was locked, plugged in his headphones, and opened that baby up.

\-----

When his phone went off at five-thirty that morning, Gabriel questioned who the asshole was that booked the six thirty boat ride, at what cruel, sadistic bastard got up this early anyway. Much less the asshole who got up this early  _ voluntarily _ . He smacked the screen angrily and forced himself to roll out of the creaky, and lumpy bed.

He grabbed the clothes that he'd set out the night before and stumbled into the bathroom with them, changing, keeping the same boxers and socks that he'd slept in, on.

He blew onto his hand, cupping it by his nose, and recoiling when he smelled his own breath. He found his backpack next to the bed when he walked back and dug around in the front pouch until he found the little aluminum tin of Altoids. Popping two in as he grabbed his laptop off the nightstand, he unplugged and coiled the charging cable. Tucking both into his bag, he checked the time. It was only five fifty or so; he could probably get away with grabbing a croissant at a Starbucks or something.

He checked out with the same woman at the front desk, shooting her a tired smile as he walked out into the early, early morning air, glad he had dug in his suitcase for his jacket last night. Gabriel stopped by the nearest Starbucks, bought a chocolate muffin and coffee, and brought up the directions on Google. 320, Golden Shore was a fifteen-minute walk. He could probably squeak in at six twenty.

Hopefully.

The walk got both colder and warmer as he went. Colder, from getting closer to the ocean, and warmer from lugging a suitcase eight blocks over dilapidated sidewalks, sunk into the road with cracks littering each square of concrete, and little tufts of grass peeking out from the gaps.

He found the address, and a pearly white ferry tied to the marina with the words  _ Catalina Mermaid  _ painted on the side in a luscious cherry red. Gabe sat on one of the stone pillars that were connected by rusting iron chain links and pulled out his phone. 6:23. Where was everyone?

After a couple of minutes, A blonde woman stepped out of a cab, wearing khaki capris and a sky blue polo, hair pulled loosely into a ponytail. After her came a suitcase and a little navy backpack. She made her way to the pier, cheeks flushing with exertion.

The woman grinned at him when she spotted him. "Hiya there!" Definitely Midwestern.

"Uh, hi?" He responded awkwardly.

"Are you here for the CICRR thingymajig? I don't really see anybody else out here, ya know?" She asked rapid fire.

"Oh, yeah I am." He stuck his hand out to shake hers. "Gabriel Novak."

"Oh shucks! Where are my manners, rambling a mile a minute, without even introducing myself! Donna Hanscum." She grasped his hand firmly and shook it. "Heya, Gabriel Novak, aren't you that comedian guy?"

"Sure am. Live and in the flesh." He grinned, allowing his posture to relax, leaning back a little, but not enough that he would go tumbling into the harbor below, like glorified tea.

"Oh, how funny! I saw you on Comedy Central the other night. That joke about the Popsicle sticks? Oh gosh, I forgot how to breathe I was chuckling so hard." She smiled, all teeth and dimples.

Gabriel chatted with Donna for a while as people slowly trickled up to the dock. First, a scruffy guy who smelled a little too strongly of whiskey with a notebook tucked under his nose and a pencil tapping the side of his beard, right by the gray patch. He caught Donna sneaking glances at the guy too. Then came a redhead, who introduced herself as “Charlie, game designer, and resident lesbian.”

Her words, not his.

After her was the nervous Asian guy, Kevin. He screamed college student, judging by the UC Berkeley bag slung over his shoulder and the simple black suitcase with the tag that read 'my other girlfriend is a cello'. And also the fact that he commented about his worries of the credit transfer not going smoothly.

Then a stream of tourists, boarding a little glass bottomed boat to go whale watching, toting oversized sunglasses, binoculars, and cheesy floral shirts.

Eventually, there were at least fifteen people loitering there, some seasoned biologists, discussing the best way to treat Ich on a great white, and normal people like him hanging out. There were Donna and Jody, who were both cops, Ezekiel who was quiet, but eventually admitted to running a B&B with his family, Charlie, Meg and Ruby, two returning participants, and eventually they found out the drunk was Chuck, a horror story writer.

When the next taxi pulled up to the curb, most of them were not expecting the tall, British man, wearing a V-neck that was far lower than reasonable, and that the scruffy, pouncey guy in a suit would be the professors. Especially with how they were bickering.

"No, absolutely not Fergie, it's inhumane to cycle anything if there's a loss of life." The tall one huffed. "You start with an ammonium producing product and wait. There is no reason for anything to die."

"Bah, you animal husbandry minors think you know everything." Fergie or whatever huffed. "We're not having this conversation now."

"True. We have some fresh faces we need to terrify." Tall blond and British nodded, stalking towards them, a large duffel bag was thrown over one shoulder and a suitcase trailing behind him held in the other.

The short one wasn't far behind him, lugging crates and looking awfully put off about it.

"Hello, you bastards." Tall guy said with an air of nonchalance. "Ah. Meg and Ruby. I see you've returned, you she-demons. I'm Professor Balthazar. That's it. It's Balthazar or professor. Pick one."

The other one picked up the thread. "I'm Fergus Crowley. If you call me anything other than Crowley, you  _ will  _ lose a limb in some kind of... Tragic accident."

Both Ruby and Meg laughed, along with some of the older biologists.

Gabriel was feeling cocky and raised his hand. "So, like, Fergilicious is off the table then?"

Balthazar barked out a laugh, and Charlie elbowed Gabe’s ribs with a grin.

"Yes. Absolutely." Crowley narrowed his eyes at him, before addressing the entire group. "In five minutes, we'll be boarding the ferry to Avalon. If you need to make and calls or anything requiring cell service, I would recommend doing it now. You won't have the chance until we get to the island."

There was a kind of unified rustling in pockets for phones, as everyone pulled theirs out.

Gabriel checked his Facebook as he helped load all the bags and crates onto the ferry distractedly. His brother Raphael had posted a picture of his new puppy, a Labrador-Doberman mix who he called Lily. He gave it a thumbs up and commented a little heart at the bottom. Gabriel used to have a Jack Russell when he was younger and really missed having a dog. Figuring that he could get one soon, he kept scrolling, seeing quite a lot of posts from his immediate family who he'd always considered pretty technologically impaired. Even Michael had posted something non-work related. Weird.

Feeling like he was being one-upped, he took a picture of the boat with the LA skyline in the background and posted it with a little boat emoji and the weird looking yellow fish.

He continued on his Facebook quest as everyone boarded the ship, either settling on the top in the open air or inside the ship by the snack bar. He opted for the snack bar and bought a packet of skittles. Then he saw Kali's most recent photo, Her and fucking  _ Baldur _ at the little Italian restaurant they used to go to all the time, and then the little status box; It's Complicated.

Complicated his ass. The smug smirk on the bastards face was enough to confirm just how 'complicated' it was.

He clicked on her icon and unfriended her. Ha. Take that Kali.

Not that she would really notice though. Seeing as she had already moved on, his last little shred of hope dissolved in a pit of evil, depressing acid.

As the boat started moving, he put his phone away and reached for the beat up black composition notebook. Tragedy plus time equals comedy, right? Maybe he could make light of this for his next show, and process his feelings at the same time.

\-----

Apparently not.

By the time they were truly out on the ocean, Gabriel only had four words on the paper. So she dumped me. Great album name, terrible joke. He was stuck, writer's block, between a rock and a hard place, yadda yadda yadda, etc., etc. The thing was, he just couldn't write.

The commotion on the top deck increased and rose in volume. Intrigued, he looked out the window and saw three, maybe four sea lions swimming alongside the boat.

Bullet point. Sea lions.

Wait, why  _ were  _ they called sea lions?

Maybe this trip would be more productive than expected, he thought, hunching over the notebook and beginning to write furiously.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos feed the author's ego!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, I'm a day late

Getting to the island was easy. Everyone pitched in, lugging crates, boxes, suitcases, and bags. After multiple trips, the boat was empty, and the dock was crowded. Which ended up prompting the short one, Crowley, to yell at everyone to 'stop gawking and bring everything to the hotel'. Luckily, it was right by the docks, and they even provided rickety carts that were constantly threatening to break, to move everything.

The Atwater hotel was an old three story building that had seen better days, with eggshell white paint flaking off the grayed wooden planks, and the balconies rusting from the salty air. It was far from an impressive sight. The carefully built porch had beams on the guardrail that were splintering and cracking under the weight of a well loved white porch swing, hand sewn pillows gracing either corner. The blue and teal sign that was mounted on the roof proclaimed in fading letters that it was in fact 'Catalina's most historic hotel'.

"Maybe it’s historic because it hasn't seen a customer since Reagan." Gabriel snickered to Charlie, who was helping him carry in one of the various plastic tubs with the cheap click together blue lids. It was filled with what seemed to be various fishing lures, ranging in size from his pinky nail, to what was easily the size of his forearm. What kind of fish was  _ that  _ big?

Personally, he didn't want to find out. With how little how experience he had, Gabe had his fingers crossed that he'd be put on the 'record' side of things in the program.

Charlie rolled her eyes and hoisted the crate a little higher, repositioning her grip. "Y'know, for a comedian, you would think that you'd actually be funny."

"Hey! I leave work at work, sister. That's like expecting you to be constantly programming, or hacking the government or something." He argued, grunting as they dropped it on the counter, right in front of a very unamused clerk.

"Do you need help?" The guy, Dean, Gabriel gathered after a quick glance at his name tag, said, obviously unamused.

"Hakuna your tatas freckles." He shot at him, causing the dude to jolt a little.

"Jeez. Well, if you drop that on your feet, I'm not going to be sympathetic." Dean grumbled. "Third door on your left is where all those go." He pointed.

"Thanks!" Charlie called over her shoulder, red hair flipping over and, subsequently, getting in Gabriel's mouth.

He spat it out and crinkled his nose as they walked to the room, whose door was propped open by a beaten up sandal.

Prying open the door with her hip, Charlie set the box down on the nearest clear spot. Then she smacked his head.

"Ow!"

"Don't be a dick!"

"What?"

"That guy, Dean, his job isn't to put up with your bullshit. He  _ was  _ trying to be helpful." She scolded him. "You should apologize."

"Alright,  _ mom _ ." He shot back, rubbing his head.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Let's just keep unloading."

\-----

Gabriel and Chuck were paired as roommates, and the guy was surprisingly docile, but that may just be because he had coveted the desk, and was currently up to his ears in loose papers and scotch.

Curious, Gabriel picked up on of the pages.

_ "I'm an angel of the Lord, and I can, and will, kick your ass back to hell." The Angel, Cassiel sighed, glaring at the hunter who held the shotgun aimed at his head. Jonah let it fall to his side, the gun still shaking with unsteady hands. He looked at the man splayed against the floor. "Luke- is he dead?" _

The paper cut off there, the messy cursive blurred and smeared from where some drink had spilled on it. Gabriel brought it up to his nose and sniffed. Beer, and very cheap beer at that.

"Is it any good?" Chuck asked him, scratching at the gray patch in his beard. "It's my first draft, and maybe some review that's not from my editor would be helpful."

"Well I mean, I'm kind of hooked." Gabriel shrugged. "The dialogue is amusing and compelling. I want to know what happens."

"Oh good." Chucks shoulders relaxed, as he sighed. "It's the fourth book in the series, but my sixth attempt at  _ writing  _ the fourth book. I, uh, I'm kind of using the Angels as a plot device." He mumbled the last part, a little ashamed.

"What's it called?" Gabriel flopped on the worn mattress, causing the old springs of the bed to creak with effort. He tugged his phone out of his back pocket as he rolled onto his stomach.

"Uh, it's called Paranormal," Chuck said awkwardly.

"Cool beans." He hummed, typing it into his notes and putting in parentheses next to it,  _ read before the trip ends, Kindle app.  _ "Well! I'm going to go get a drink. Wanna come with Chuckles?"

"Oh, uh, no thanks, I'm good." Chuck waved him off, turning back to his laptop.

"Suit yourself." Gabriel grabbed his wallet and room key from the top of the dresser and waltzed out.

The elevator was one of those ancient ones, with the operator and everything, and he didn't trust it as far as he could throw it. (Not very far at all, zero, no trust) It was only one flight of stairs anyways, so he tackled the faux velvet covered stairway down to the lobby, and then through the door to the adjoining bar.

It was dimly lit, and done in dark woods, the few lights that weren't at the bar were a sickly yellow shade and flickered out of time with each other. Pictures in cheap aluminum frames depicted fishermen with fish as long as they were cradled in their arms, and various boats floating along unnamed piers. Tucked into a back corner was a beat up and well-loved jukebox, playing Foreigner.

The place was relatively empty, spare a few people scattered around the tables and booths. Gabriel recognized two of the biologists in a corner booth, Uriel and Zachariah if he remembered properly. Zach, he was the one who looked like a creepy uncle, was talking enthusiastically, hands waving like a conductor as he tried to emphasize his point.

The guy from the front desk, Dean, was behind the counter and grimaced when he saw him.

"Well howdy to you too Deano!" He grinned, sauntering up to the bar and plopping down onto one of the worn wooden stools.

Dean rolled his eyes, and reached for a glass, thunking it down in front of Gabriel. "Alright. What do you want to drink?"

"You got Corona or something?"

"Yeah." Dean nodded, reaching back for one of the bottles that lined the shelves, placed in front of a mirror to try and give the illusion of depth.

"Great! I'll have a piña colada!"

The bartender let his head drop, and his shoulders slump. He then moved his hand to grab the rum instead. He mixed the drink quickly and forcefully switched out the curved glass the drink was in for the simple cup that was in front of Gabriel, seeming to have developed a twitch in his left eye.

"Thank you!" He beamed, taking the hot pink swirly straw and sucking enthusiastically, before slapping a five on the counter and leaving, popping the cherry in his mouth and sucking on the stem.

"Hey! I'm going to need that glass goddamnit!"

\-----

Gabriel drew the short straw.

Literally. They picked straws for jobs. Ones with pink on the bottom stayed on land and did the recording and helped prepare lures. People who drew one with blue at the end went out with nets and fishing poles to catch the specimens. And then each blue straw had a number, which signified a boat.

He'd drawn blue, 3.

And that's why he was stuck with a little boat that had a film of murky water at the bottom and a crushed can of orange soda floating in it. Using a bucket, he managed to get all the water out, and he threw the can on the dock. Then he felt guilty and clambered out of the boat to throw it in the recycling bin at the end.

It really wasn't fair, boat number 4 was practically a yacht compared to his. Gabriel could see it floating across the dock, blue canvas tent rippling merrily in the breeze, while the reflection off the glass blinded him.

He tugged the box they'd given him into his lap and dug until he found the extra gas. He had no intention of running out, even if they said it was full. He set the bottle behind him, and carefully put the box at his feet, alongside the aluminum fishing rod.

Gabriel unscrewed the cap and poured the gas into the little tank on the back of the ten horsepower motor that was mounted on the boat. No oars required.

Capping it, he put the gas away, and pulled the starter, quickly figuring out how to steer the boat. If he wanted to go left, he moved the lever right. Simple. With his other hand, he pulled out the map that was given to him, searching for the area they had circled.  _ Sapphire Cove _ . It wasn't too far. Once he got past the red and white buoys, he gunned the engine, causing the front of the boat to tilt up and wobble worryingly.

He didn't push it after that, letting the speed drop, so that  _ he _ didn't drop into the ocean. Hell, the life vest that was in the boat didn't even fit, so Gabriel had it underneath him as a seat cushion.

When he reached the cove he was speechless. The water was a deep crystalline blue, and he could see the sandy bottom from the boat. There was a small beach off to the left, shaded by a small grove of eucalyptus trees, stretching up towards the sun, with bay trees rooted precariously along the sharp cliffs surrounding either side. Through the grove and the underbrush, you could see a well-trodden path sloping through. Birdsong echoed between the cliff faces, bouncing off the sandstone that was slowly falling into the water as it was broken off in chunks. To the right of the beach were what must've been tide pools when the tide was low, judging by the occasional ridge of rock that sprung up from under the water.

He killed the engine, switching the choke. Gabriel leaned over the box, and found the lures, and picked the one that had the little chunk of squid at the end, and strung it onto his fishing pole, casting it and waiting patiently. As the sun beat down on him, Gabriel found himself wishing that he had brought a hat, or at least more sunscreen.

"C'mon." He wiggled the pole back and forth, trying to coax some sort of fish to take a bite. "Y'know you want the squid. Please eat the squid." He wished Charlie was here too, but the lucky duck had gotten recording duty, and in his opinion, off scot-free too.

Gabriel jumped a little when he felt the pole jerk around in his hands. He reeled in, fighting the resistance from the fish. As soon as he had it out of the water, he grasped it behind the head with one hand, and unhooked it with the other, cursing when he realized that he hadn't even filled up the bucket he was supposed to put it in. Gabriel held onto the desperately wiggling fish, and partiality filled up the bucket and put it into the boat, still dripping as he dropped the fish into it.

The fish started to swim back and forth, the orange coloring bouncing off the metal bucket and reflecting on the bottom of the boat somehow. Gabriel snatched the little spiral bound pocket notebook and the fish identification guide from the blue box and quickly flipped through the pages, looking for the fish that he had in the bucket.

_ Ah ha!  _ There it was tucked into the corner, Garibaldi. California state fish apparently. He wrote it into the journal and tagged the fish, before putting the bucket into the water, tilting the boat a little too much for his comfort as the fish swam out and down. Gabriel scooped up more water, struggling a little bit to get the full bucket back into the boat. It didn't help as he remembered the one time he'd heard that every gallon of water weighs about ten pounds. Instead, it just made him feel weaker.

He reached into the bucket for another lure and came up with a little plastic fish on it. It kinda looked like an anchovy if you ignored the flashy green and purple ribbons that were there instead of a tail, and the three hooks hanging off it.

He cast the line and leaned back, letting the arm that wasn't loosely curled around the pole dangle in the water. If he didn't have a job to do, Gabriel would've pushed the boat up onto the beach and gone swimming. The water felt fantastic, if not a little cold.

He lazily dragged the pole back and forth, moving the lure like a fish. He'd probably catch some little fish of some sort. Maybe a steelhead or cod or like, a clownfish.

The tug on the line was extra strong this time, so he almost lost his grip on the pole as he shot up to reel it in. He was practically fighting the fish, hell, he was sweating.

When he finally got the fish out of the water, well... It wasn't exactly a fish.

Hanging off the line, was a four-foot long leopard shark, hook snagged in the shark's mouth. Then with a (incredibly manly, thank you very much) shriek, he dropped the pole, and the shark swam down to the bottom, with the pole trailing behind it.

" _ Shit! _ " Gabriel yelled at the water. He couldn't go after the damn thing, because, A: it was at  _ least  _ forty feet down, and B: SHARK!!! So, in layman's terms, he was royally fucked.

Gabriel was staring into the water, grasping the side of the boat when he saw a flash of blue and green.  _ Must've been the light hitting the water wired. That whole 'undersea rainbow' thing.  _ He thought.

"Hey, is this yours?" A voice behind him asked.

Gabriel screamed again, and almost fell off the boat, as he turned around in shock.

The guy who was hanging off the side of the boat was  _ very  _ attractive. Shaggy brown hair that was swept out of his face, what was probably a six pack judging by the guy's pecs, and, by God, look at those eyes. Hazel, with gold flecks all throughout them, looking for all the world like they could see into your soul. Not to mention that the guy was holding his fishing pole. Y'know, the fishing pole that had been  _ snagged by a fucking shark. _

"Uh- yeah. T-thanks?"  _ Damn it _ , he cursed,  _ He's just a guy, stop thinking with your dick Novak. _

The guy, or as his brain supplied,  _ Incredibly hot wonder man _ , held out Gabriel's pole. "Noticed that a shark had this in his mouth. The poor guy tore his lip."

"He kinda stole it from me before I could get it out." He offered as an explanation, feeling as if he had to apologize for his actions.

The stranger laughed, throwing his head back. When he stopped and looked back at Gabriel, his hair had fallen in his eyes, and Gabriel had to fight every cell in his body to not brush it out of the guy's eyes.

"You sure you didn't let the pole go because you were scared?" The stranger smiled up at him teasingly.

"Me? Scared?" He gasped, putting a hand over his heart dramatically. "Why, I never!"

"Well, next time," The stranger smiled, his eyes twinkling in amusement. "Remember that if you hold them behind the dorsal fin, they can't bite you, and you can slip them into a net to tag them and get the hooks out."

"That's good advice." Gabriel nodded. "Honestly, I don't even really know what I'm doing. They gave us a three-hour crash course and sent us off on our own."

"CICRR?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Oh, my brother works at the Atwater. He said you guys were coming when we had dinner last night." Stranger said.

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah, I came here to get away."

"Oh yeah? Where you from?" The stranger lit up.

"Originally? Indiana. But I've been living in New York for the past three years with my girlfriend- er, well ex-girlfriend now." Gabriel sighed. "Kinda the reason I'm here now. My life is going nowhere, I couldn't do anything, so I left."

"Man," The stranger said wistfully. "I want to go to New York one day."

"Why, where are you from?" Gabriel asked him.

"Here. I've lived on this island my entire life."

"Well, why don't you just travel then? Just hop on one of these ferries and get to L.A."

"You sound like my brother." The man chuckled, swiping his hair back with his hand. "Dude got hitched, lost his sea legs, went to L.A. with her and got divorced within the month. Says its the best decision he ever made though."

"Damn." Gabriel whistled. "I almost married my ex. One time, I had a one night stand with a dude, made him pancakes in the morning, and the guy flat out asked me to marry him."

The stranger snorted. "He wasn't serious was he?"

"No, no, he was  _ dead  _ serious. I was like, 'dude, c'mon they're just pancakes, ' but he persisted. So I told him that I had a dentist appointment and that I'd call him, and booked it."

The man huffed out a cute snorting laugh. "I had a girlfriend once. Well, kind of. We were kids, I kissed her, and she swam off and never spoke to me again."

"Don't you mean-" Gabriel looked down and paled. Where the guy's legs should have been was a beautifully marbled green and blue fishtail. "-ran off..." He looked back up at the guys face. "I'm pretty sure you're not in my identification guide."

"Er, yeah." The stranger grinned sheepishly. "Surprisingly, 'mermaid' isn't really considered a scientific discovery yet." He held a hand out to him. I'm Sam. Nice to meet you."

"Oh- uhhh, Gabriel. Pleased to meet you." He grasped the hand out of memory, absolutely floored. He was shaking a mermaid's hand. Merman. Fish human thingy. Goddamn, this was far more terrifying than that monkey body grafted onto a fish skeleton. Because the mermaid was  _ hot _ , and Gabriel had been  _ hitting on him  _ too!

"Well, this has been an adventure. I'll see you tomorrow then?" Sam said awkwardly, realizing how uncomfortable he'd made Gabriel at the realization. "I promise I won't try and make you marry me over pancakes."

"Oh yeah," Gabriel nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow. I'm not going nowhere."

"Okay... See ya." Sam smiled sheepishly and went under the water. Gabriel stared down long after he'd lost sight of the green and blue tail.

How was he supposed to get back to fishing after  _ that _ ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leaving comments and kudos feed the authors ego!


	4. Chapter 4

He was jittery when he got back to the island. He'd managed to catch and tag three more fish after meeting Sam, but that was it. What Gabriel  _ really truly  _ needed, was really hard liquor and something, preferably greasy, to eat.

The flickering sign above the entrance to the bar attached to the hotel said in neon red lights,  **_Atwater Roadhouse_ ** .

He pushed against the door and walked into the dingy bar. This time, he noticed the pool tables tucked into the back. Even though he claimed to be able to hustle, he honestly had no idea how to play.

"Hey! Gabe!"

Gabriel's head swiveled around to look to see who called him and saw Charlie leaning out the side of a booth, arm waving madly. He grinned and walked over, sliding into the seat across from her.

"Hey, Charlie. How was staying behind and spearing anchovies with fish hooks?"

"Oh you know," She snorted, brushing her bangs out of her face. "Amusing. I got to watch that dude, Zachariah, stab himself without fail. How was the fishing?"

"Oh, um, well-"

Luckily enough, they were interrupted by a waitress. She was pretty, blonde and tall, wearing a purple flannel under her apron. Not really his type, but he could appreciate the aesthetic.

"Hey guys, I'm Jo, and I'll be your waitress, because," She turned and yelled over her shoulder, "Dean Winchester is a lazy little shit!"

From the kitchen window, a hand stuck out and flipped the bird.

Jo huffed, and turned back to them, letting a sunny grin take over the scowl on her face. "So! What can I get you, folks?"

"Uh- Can I get the mushroom philly cheese steak?" Charlie squeaked out. "And a coke?"

"Pepsi okay?" Jo asked, jotting down on her notepad.

"Mhm!" Charlie nodded, three octaves higher than normal.

The waitress swung around to look at Gabriel, pen poised to write. "And for you?"

"Can I get a strawberry daiquiri with double the alcohol? And a cheeseburger with extra pickles?"

She snorted. "I'll see what I can do. I'll be back with your orders in a hot sec."

She walked away and Charlie sunk farther into her seat, chin level with the table.

"Charlie, what the hell?"

"She's so  _ hot  _ Gabe, what the fuck? Who gave her the right?" Charlie groaned quietly. "I'm too gay for this shit."

"Okay, look you, and I can have this discussion later in one of our hotel rooms, but right now I'm starving and regretting not ordering an appetizer." He sighed, resting his chin in his hand, elbow pillowed on top of his arm. "Sit up."

"I can't." She groaned. "I'm stuck."

"No, you're lazy, there's a huge difference here."

"That's a fucked up thing to say, man." One of her hands came up and groped to find the edge of the table. She pushed up and carefully extracted herself from under the table. "You're supposed to offer to help me, you know."

"Ah yes, but consider this. I'm also lazy." Gabriel pointed out triumphantly.

"You're a dick."

"I am, and I'm proud of it." He beamed.

Charlie pouted. "Anyways, how was your day?"

Shit. Abort mission. Abandon ship. Mayday mayday. Houston, we have a problem. A hot, mermaid problem. Maybe he should just... Tell a little white lie.

Gabriel shrugged, with convincing nonchalance. "Pretty tame."

Tame? Tame! He was almost murdered! By a shark! Okay, that wasn't  _ totally  _ true, but you get the point right?

"Coolest thing you caught?"

Say shark! No wait that'll lead to questions. Trout! Wait, freshwater fish. Humahumanukanukaahpuahah? Hawaiian.

"Oh, just some little stuff. I caught one of those orange fish."

"What, the Garibaldi?"

"Does it have a tail that kinda looks like a dick?"

Charlie snickered but nodded.

"Then yeah."

Great. Mission accomplished. No mermaid troubles.

Yet, his brain helpfully supplied.

"Cool. Wish I could have gone fishing. I'm so pale. Could have used a tan. Maybe like that one our waitress has." Charlie sighed dreamily. "God, she's hot."

"Ew gross. Just ask her out. You being all lovesick is repulsive to my cold, shriveled heart." He grumbled, grabbing one of the paper napkins, shredding the corners.

Charlie leaned across the table and plucked a few sugar packets. With her tongue out, she started carefully placing them to make a square. "Gabe, pass me two Splenda packets."

"They've got sweet and low," Gabriel offered, holding out the pink packets.

"Oh- gimme those." She huffed, snatching them. Just as she was about to place the last one on the top, their waitress showed up.

"Here ya go, the philly cheese steak,"

She held out the plate.

"Gah!" Charlie yelped, the packet slipping from her fingers and crushing the little house. "Fuck." She whispered under her breath, not looking up at the waitress.

"Aw shit, I'm sorry." Jo apologized, setting the sandwich in front of Charlie, along with her soda. "And, for you," She put down his cheeseburger. "Extra pickles."

Next came the pinkest fucking daiquiri he'd ever seen, strawberry on the rim and a little yellow umbrella. "Have fun with your alcohol. Can I get you folks anything else?"

"Your number?" Charlie blurted, before slapping her hands over her mouth, turning scarlet.

The waitress laughed, and winked at her, walking off.

Charlie stared vacantly at a spot right above Gabriel's shoulder, still pink.

He waved a hand in front of her face, then started snapping. She shook her head and met his eyes.

"Gabe, I want my ashes scattered at the next comic con."

"You're so  _ dramatic.  _ And I was a theater minor. I know dramatic." He huffed, picking up the cheeseburger. "Yer ovwer reactin’." He mumbled through a bite.

She half-heartedly picked up the philly cheese steak. "Whelp might as well drown my sorrows in melted cheese." Charlie took a huge bite, and Gabriel watched the entire sandwich disappear before his eyes, in the span of three minutes. He was only halfway through his burger when she finished and turned to the Pepsi.

"Goddamn girl." He swallowed and wiped the side of his mouth with the back of his hand. "Where do you  _ put  _ that?"

"My thighs, usually. If I eat too slow, I get full."

"Well yeah, but then again, you get to taste it if you go slow." He gestured with the martini glass as he took a sip.

"... That's what she said." Charlie smiled.

"Oh, so bad sex jokes. I see. Very mature." Gabriel grinned at her.

Jo walked back up to the table, check in hand. "Here you go, folks. Whenever you're ready." She set it down and walked back off.

Gabriel reached for it at the same time as Charlie did, but he got it first.

"Gabe!"

"Uh uh. My treat." He insisted, waggling the black leather at her. When he opened it, next to the bill was a phone number scrawled on a napkin, Jo Harvelle written under it with a hastily drawn heart. He grinned smugly and passed the napkin to Charlie. "Guess your blunder went well."

She gaped and read the napkin again. "Holy shit, God is real, and he's looking out for me."

"Ain't life good?" He grinned, tucking his credit card into the little plastic pocket and setting it on the edge of the table.

\-----

They were all crowded into a small and ugly conference room. It was plastered with garish blue and green corded wallpaper that was peeling at the top, paired with cheap metal folding chairs with blue seat cushions and backs. Everyone was crammed around an oblong table that seemed to be hand crafted out of the same material that the porch was. Gabriel started wondering how old it was.

"Alright!" Crowley yelled over the chatter, waiting until everyone quieted down. "I'm the king of this hell trip, and I'm in charge here, so we'll do this in order."

He pointed at the brunette next to Gabe. "Ruby. What did you find?"

"Six fish, the largest catch was about a thirteen-inch mackerel." She shrugged. "Rest is in the log book Crowley."

The woman sitting next to her high fived her. She was the other brunette, Meg if he remembered right.

Crowley groaned, and went along in a circle, even though he pointedly skipped Balthazar, who huffed and then sulked for the rest of the time, slouched in his chair and arms crossed.

"You. Comedy boy."

Gabriel snapped up, alert. "What?"

The guy raised an eyebrow. "What was the highlight of your catch, and the number."

"Mermaid." He tried to say, but for some reason, it came out differently. "Mammal." Is what his ears heard, and his brain damn near imploded trying to figure out what was going on.

"What kind of mammal?" Crowley droned.

"Uh- sorry, I didn't catch a," He tried to say mermaid again. "Mammal." What in the fuck? "I just, er, saw a... Sea lion! Yeah, a sea lion."

"Okay then. What did you  _ catch _ ?"

"Caught a shark. Leopard shark, he stole my pole, but I caught him with the net and got the hook out of his mouth." He made up on the spot because obviously there was some kind of bodily betrayal going on so he couldn't tell the truth.

"And your daily total?" Crowley droned.

"Oh, five." He grinned sheepishly.

"Idiot," Crowley muttered under his breath, before moving onto the outer layer of the circle.

\-----

Gabriel was walking out onto the docks early the next morning when he saw Sam's green and blue tail flick up out of the water. He saw a man at the edge of the dock, untying his dingy, gray and dumpy, trucker cap pulled over his eyes. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" The man grumbled.

"The mermaid tail!" Wait, he was able to say it that time.

The man narrowed his eyes. "Don't cha pull my leg. Mermaids ain't real ya idjit." He turned and looked at the ocean.

"No- I swear, c'mon you had to have seen it-"

"It was probably a dolphin. You sure you ain't been drinking?" The man asked, stepping into his boat, the name  _ Karen  _ painted on the side.

"Oh, never mind." He sighed hopelessly, deflating.

The man shrugged and went back to his boat as Gabriel slunk back to the other end of the dock.

He had dropped the wooden crate that everything was in when he spotted Sam's tail, so he checked to make sure everything in it was fine. Then he picked it up and set it in the boat, and stepped in behind it. He spotted the orange life vest and resolved to get a new one soon.

He got the engine to roar to life and set off for sapphire cove, the deep blue waves smacking against the sides of the boat merrily as he moved through it.

The cove was just as quiet as before, the only noises the sound of waves crashing against rock, and bird song through the trees.

Gabriel cast the line and leaned back, pushing his slightly oversized sunglasses up his nose, and closing his eyes. He heard the water slosh around the boat and rock it slightly a few seconds before two muscular forearms rested on the edge, followed by a face framed by shaggy hair.

"Hi." Sam grinned at him.

"Hey." Gabriel sat up and turned to look at him. "I have so many questions."

Sam sighed dramatically. "Okay, let's knock some out of the park. One, we're mammals, two, sex is complicated, three, I can hold my breath for seventeen minutes."

"Um, didn't need to know about sex, but, thanks for divulging that information?" Gabriel stuttered out.

"You're welcome. Alright, shoot."

"Okay, first of all! I tried to say mermaid yesterday, and it came out mammal, but I saw you earlier, and it came out fine!"

"Oh! You saw me." Sam smiled. "And that's simple. It's magic!"

"That's so far from simple, you don't even understand. We don't  _ have  _ magic I'll have you know."

"Wow." He whistled. "That blows for you guys."

"Gee, thanks." Gabriel deadpanned. The mermaid wasn't as funny as he thought he was.

"But, the gist of the magic is this. If someone hasn't seen a mermaid, you'll say something else. It's a fairly useful spell."

"That... Explains some. But if that's the case, then why do we have all this lore about mermaids?"

Sam huffed out a breath. "Because the mermaids of old were unreasonably promiscuous. They just  _ loved  _ to show off, all the time. The spell wasn't put into place until the early 1700's, so it became less of common knowledge and more of a myth. Like Santa Claus!"

"But, I managed to tell some old drunk that I saw a mermaid tail this morning," Gabriel asked, confused.

"Oh, Bobby? Old, smells like whiskey, trucker hat?"

"That's the one!"

"Yeah, he used to be a mermaid."

He had to pause for a second, and rack his brain. "Wait- wait a second. He had legs though. Did he make a deal with a sea witch to get them?"

Sam laughed hard, wiping tears from his eyes. "Oh my god, no. This isn't the little mermaid. No, no, he just married a human. Ellen Harvelle."

"Oh. So if you just married a human, you could get legs?"

Sam immediately sobered up and frowned at him. "No, mermaids only marry once. My brother Dean, he sacrificed love to be able to walk, the poor son of a bitch."

"Dean- Dean Winchester? Wait- hold on, Harvelle, like Jo Harvelle? What the fuck? Is  _ everybody  _ a mermaid?"

"Well no. Jo is a half mermaid. So she gets fins when she goes in the water, but her kids will be fully human. Legs are a dominant gene."

"Okay- but back to your brother. Is he yay high, kinda a dirty blonde, with fanfiction green eyes?"

Sam snorted. "Oh yeah. Total friggin jerk. But he brought me tacos last night, so he's okay."

"So like, you don't eat whole herring or something?"

"Oh gross, no." He wrinkled his nose. "Nah, most of the locals know we're here. We trade for stuff."

"So a barter system?"

"Oh yeah. So, now that I've answered  _ your  _ questions, it's time to answer  _ my  _ questions."

Gabriel shrugged. "Okay. That's fair."

"What was New York like?"

"Busy, and everything was tall, reaching way up. It was all made of glass. I've got some pictures on my phone. I'll bring it tomorrow and show you."

Sam beamed up at him.

\-----

He kept seeing it.

When he was eating dinner, out of the corner of his eye, he would see a blue and green tail flip up out of the ocean.

Right as the sun came up, the soft yellows would make that fucking tail  _ glow  _ as it flicked water onto the docks.

And when dusk set in, the gentle vanilla twilight settling a soft lavender glow on everything it touched, making the dew in the grass look like the night sky in the middle of Montana, it would be resting on a rock, Sam silhouetted in deep purples against the moon.

And nobody seemed to see but him. Sam had explained it, but in the weeks that they'd been talking, it kept nagging at him. Gabriel couldn't even tell Charlie, and she had quickly wormed her way into his heart, becoming an important part of his life.

It was convenient too. Sam taught him how to track movements of schools of fish, and how to catch and net them with a 0% mortality rate.

But, boy, was he struggling. Sam was, without a doubt, the hottest man Gabriel had ever met, and his dilemma was not wanting to ruin their friendship. So he kept his mouth shut and held his tongue. Not everyone got a happy blunder like Jo and Charlie.

\-----

"And man, I saw the dude again, and he had the same haircut, the junior Republican, and he was picketing outside a planned parenthood." Gabriel continued his joke, his audience captivated. "So, unbeknownst to him, I'd stuffed the lining of his suit jacket with kool-aid powder when he'd asked me to do laundry. And then I went around to the side, and turned the sprinklers on."

Charlie started laughing hysterically, holding her sides, and wiping tears from her eyes while Jo had to let go of her hand to stifle her guffawing.  Even Dean who was crammed in next to Jo cracked a smile.

"And that kids, is how I lost a roommate and three hundred dollars." He said triumphantly over the raucous laughter.

"Okay- okay, I take it back." Charlie wheezed. "You are  _ funny. _ "

"Not bad." Jo grinned at him, slinging an arm around Charlie and causing her to go red, and not from the laughing.

"Alright, I've got to get back to waiting tables." Dean sighed, standing up from where he'd been crammed onto the edge.

"Aw, Deanie, don't be a party pooper." Gabriel teased.

"Shut up Novak," Dean grumbled.

"Stay Dean!" Jo commanded, tugging his arm.

"No chance kid." Dean pulled his arm out of her grip and ruffling her hair.

"Bah, you're no fun fish sticks." Gabe huffed.

Dean froze and looked at him, eyebrows knitted in confusion.

"Bad nickname. Alright. Get me another martini, would you?" Gabriel held out his glass by the stem.

"Fine." He griped, snatching it. "You're going to have to pay your tab at some point, you know."

"You hold me to such standards Dean!" He called after him.

Dean flipped him the bird as he walked off.

Gabriel turned back to the girls. "He sure loves communicating with rude gestures huh?"

"I've noticed that too." Jo grinned, threading her fingers with Charlie's.

"So, do you ladies want to hear about the great Novak road trip, with my entire crazy family crammed into one RV?"

\-----

He was getting antsy, that's what it must've been.

He hadn't been fishing today because Crowley had asked him to stay behind. Probably because he had such high numbers for his total number of fish caught daily.

He couldn't tell what was taking so long, he'd asked him to come at ten, and it was ten twenty.

As if prompted, the door clicked open, and Balthazar walked out, looking a little straggly. His V-neck was crooked and his hair mussed. Plus his shoes were untied. Poor guy must've slept horribly. The professor offered him a smile as he walked past him.

Gabriel walked in, where Crowley was buttoning his jacket, and saw a glimpse of what was undeniably a hickey, and then  _ everything  _ made sense. He was actually pretty amazed that he hadn't already figured out that they were a couple. They bickered like an old married couple. He wondered how long they had been married.

Gabriel didn't realize he'd said it out loud until Crowley sighed tiredly. "Thirteen years. The man drives me nuts. I just haven't got the balls to kill him yet. But that isn't what we're here to talk about."

"Right." Gabriel sank into a folding chair opposite of him. "Hit me with it."

Crowley rolled his eyes. "You've been getting record sized catches. How? Even our seasoned biologists aren't as good at predicting school movements las you are."

"Oh, well, um, you see-"

Crowley cut him off. "It's one of those fucking mermaids isn't it?"

Gabriel gaped. "You know about them too?"

"Yes, of course. They are the farthest thing from subtle on the planet, I've run into a few. Robert, the owner of the hotel? Mermaid."

"Well, yeah, I knew that already." Gabriel nodded.

"So, who is it. Victor? Gordon? ... Ash?"

"Er, no. His names Sam."

"Ah. Deans his-" Crowley started.

"Brother, I know."

"Well." He steepled his fingers. "Gabriel, make sure you don't do anything too incredible to attract attention and make sure to stay in his good graces to assist on the project. Now get out of my sight."

Gabriel mock saluted him. "Yes, sir!" He stood, pushing the chair back. He hoped he wasn't too late to meet Sam.


	5. Chapter 5

"So..." Gabriel hummed. "You and Dean are brothers."

He and Sam were sharing a bag of cheeto puffs, so the mermaid paused to lick the orange dust off his fingers. "Well yeah."

"And, you said that mermaids get legs when they marry a human." He reached into the bag to pull out a few more. He bit halfway into one. "So, what's the deal with Deano having legs?"

Sam sighed and plucked the bag from him, grabbing a handful. "Long story." He sprayed cheeto bits as he spoke. It was more cute than it was gross. Even if a couple flakes did land on the back of his hand, which he quickly wiped off.

"I'm fishing." Gabriel pointed out, gesturing to the pole leaned up against the side. "I have nothing but time Sambarino."

Sam crinkled his nose at the nickname. "Okay then. Well. A couple years back Dean met this woman, Lisa, and dated her. She was pretty I guess. But, well my brother had always been desperate to get out of the water, so he proposed to her. Lisa thought it was adorable, and said yes. They didn't have a ceremony or anything, but Dean got his legs, and all was sunshine and fish scales for two weeks. Then Lisa went back to L.A. and took Dean with her." Sam sighed. "She treated him like a summer fling, an adorable accessory to be trotted around. They got divorced within a month, and Dean came back with a car. I've only ever seen pictures, but she's beautiful. He promised that if I ever get legs, that we're going road tripping as a bachelor party."

"Man." Gabriel reached into the mini cooler and pulled out a can of coke, popping the top. "That sucks. Divorces are messy, y'know?"

"Yeah. And that was his one chance at love." He sighed. "Hey, can you pass me one?" Sam set the cheetos back into the boat.

"Sure." Gabe passed one of the cans to him. It was dwarfed as it was cupped in the mermaids massive hands.

"Thanks." Sam popped it and snapped off the tab all the way, throwing it into the cooler. Pumping a fist when he made it in one shot.

"Now, what do you mean by, 'one chance at love?'." Gabriel prodded at the odd phrasing, trying not to smile at the little show of triumph.

"Well, we mate once, and for life. Most folks die the same time their partner does too. But Dean’s always done things his own way. Who knows. Maybe he'll find someone else." Sam frowned, swishing the can around and eyeing the horizon.

"That's crazy." Gabriel shook his head in disbelief. "Once? You don't, like, date or anything?"

Sam looked up, his mouth drawn into a tight line. "Well, we do. I had this girlfriend, Jess."

"Oh yeah? What happened?"

"She said she was sorry, but it had just been a 'summer time thing' and that we could still be friends, she just needed to work on her nursing degree." Sam sighed. "Basically, she was just trying to let me down easy. I really liked her you know?"

"That's rough buddy." Gabriel awkwardly clapped him on the shoulder.

"Yep." Sam sighed, staring out at the swelling waves. "What about you? You must've dated."

"Yeah. My ex, Kali, was a firecracker. Beautiful woman. Legs for days." He sighed dreamily.

He didn't know if he was imagining it, but he could've sworn he saw Sam's eyes flash with jealousy.

Gabriel sobered up quickly thinking about her. "But, that's the past. I ran from my problems. Well after I drank my problems."

"Really? Why'd you do that?"

"Well, Kali kicked me out of her apartment, so I went to go stay with my older brother."

"Oh! You have siblings?" Sam asked sunnily.

"Oh yeah. Five of em. Even though I only have two brothers I'm related to fully." Gabriel grinned wryly. "Holidays are  _ so  _ interesting at my house."

"How is it complicated?" Sam quickly backtracked. "I mean, only if you want to tell me."

"Oh, I don't have a problem with it. It's what a lot of my jokes are based around. It'll make your family seem picture perfect."

Sam nodded encouragingly.

"Well, Dear old dad, was kinda a deadbeat when my oldest brother, Lucifer was born. We're both blond, like my mother. But, when dad would keep leaving when mom was at work, well, Luci developed some serious abandonment issues. He uh, he was in jail during his first stint when I turned sixteen. Arson. He was looking for attention from our dad, even if it was negative." Gabriel paused to take a deep breath. "Dad didn't realize he was missing for a week, that old drunk."

"Then Michael. Total type A. Most people usually assume that he's the oldest because he's so... Respectable. He used to have blond hair like us too. When all of us were younger, we all looked similar. Then Mike outgrew both of us and his looks. Now he's a dark brunette like our dad. And a workaholic who made it to partner in two years. Last I heard he was being considered for CEO. Fucking overachiever."

"Then we have Raphael. He's not really my brother, but he's a year older than me. My parents and his, they were best friends. Raph's folks, well they didn't have any relatives. When they died in a car crash when he was seven, my mom insisted we adopt him. Three weeks after the papers cleared, she died. Viral pneumonia." He coughed awkwardly.

Sam set a surprisingly warm hand on his knee. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah well, it was thirty years ago. They say time heals, right?" He said bitterly.

"Not all the way..." Sam smiled up at him. "I've lost my parents too. I know it never truly goes away. It just... You forget, y'know? Sometimes you go to see them and then remember, and it stings all over again."

"Huh. You put that into words." Gabe smiled back at him weakly. "You're quite the wordsmith."

Sam smiled back gently, just the corners of his mouth turning up.

They sat in companionable silence for a while before Gabriel picked up the thread, turning his head from the ocean to Sam.

"But now, here's where it gets complicated." He continued on. "My dad started drinking after mom died. A lot. He'd disappear for weeks at a time, so we had to learn how to feed ourselves and get to school. Carpooling, the city bus, hitchhiking, the whole nine yards. And then, one day, a pregnant woman shows up at our door, a little redhead girl half hidden behind her. Turns out, Anna was our half sister, and since the woman, Naomi was having  _ another  _ of my dad's kids, she wanted to get married. So little Cassie was born."

"So you have two sisters?"

"What? Oh- no, Cassie is short for Castiel. Just like Anna is short for Annael. Dad was a surprisingly biblical man. Total asshole. At least Naomi was around. Kinda emotionally abusive, but, it could've been worse..."

"Thank you for telling me," Sam murmured, realizing how uncomfortable Gabriel had gotten while talking about his family, taking in the hunched shoulders and clenched fists.

"So, um, Dean brings you food, right?" Gabriel tried to change the subject, steering it away from such an awkward topic.

"Oh, yeah." Sam nodded, a little too enthusiastically, trying to shake off the conversation. "But just dinner. We trade, with the guys I was telling you about the other day."

"You really didn't go into detail, you just brushed the subject. But I'm intrigued." Gabriel tilted his head.

He shrugged. "Alright. Well, normally we trade for food with Benny. We bring him information about fish patterns for when he goes fishing, and he cooks us meals. Real early in the morning, both Bobby and him go out onto the docks with bagels usually. Sometimes we get cinnamon rolls. But that's only when Ellen's there."

"So, do you know Crowley?" Gabe cut in. "Cause he said there were more of you."

"Er- Scottish? Kinda short? Bout your height?" Sam gestured, raising his hand up, holding it about Gabriel's head height.

"Hey! I'm not short. I'm statistically average." He huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at him. "Five eight is  _ not  _ short." He insisted.

"Uh huh." Sam raised his eyebrows in a mocking disbelief. "But anyways, there's more of us, yeah. Me, Vic, Ash, Gordon, but we don't really see him that often, A couple of gals who live on the other side, near the CIMI camp, but I've never met them. Ash has, surprisingly. Even with that hideous mullet. And you know, Jo, occasionally."

"Okay. Cool. So, food from Benny."

"Oh right, yeah. One of the women on the island, Missouri, has a psychic store, trades things like tea, and occasionally readings for stuff at the bottom that she needs for... I dunno magic something."

"A psychic?  _ Really? _ " He sputtered in disbelief.

"Don't mock her." Sam pointed at him with his soda can. "She's the real deal, I swear."

"Okay, fisherman, psychic, pretty standard bunch to meet with mermaids." Gabriel shrugged.

"Oh, and Bela. But she's... Pretty unusual. Brings us stuff that would be considered a luxury. But briefly. Once a year." He added on as an afterthought, raising his right shoulder to his ear.

"Like what?"

"Well last time, I traded a handful of pearls for an intertube that was solar powered, and self-inflating." He grinned.

"Sam, Jesus fuck, that's practically highway robbery. Like, were these high-quality pearls and everything?"

"Well yeah. But I find them all the time. I give the misshapen ones to Missouri. If you want, I could totally find you one."

"Shit, I don't have anything to give you." Gabe sighed, smiling awkwardly.

"That's alright. If it'd make you feel better, I could get you a weird looking one."

"You don't need to get me one, Sam-I-Am."

"... Did you just Doctor Suess me?" The merman narrowed his eyes at Gabriel.

"Uh, yeah. How do  _ you  _ know Doctor Suess?" He pursed his lips and knitted his eyebrows in confusion.

"I live in the ocean, not under a rock. We've been trading with the island for forever. I've read books, hell, in the summer they have a swim up a movie theater. I go to that all the time."

"You see Star Wars?"

"Uh, of course?"

"What'd you think of the prequels?"

"Jar Jar Binks should be shot and mounted on a wall somewhere, and Hayden Christensen doesn't deserve all the hate he gets." Sam shrugged.

Gabriel beamed and clapped him on the shoulder. "I knew I liked you for a reason."

"Ha. I thought it was my charming personality and incredibly silky hair." Sam grinned, running a hand through his slightly damp and mildly tangled hair.

"I'll admit it. It was the hair." Gabe teased him.

"I knew it. You only want me for my body." Sam sighed, setting the back of his hand against his forehead and swooning dramatically.

Gabriel laughed at him, rolling up the empty bag of Cheetos and tucking them into the cooler with the other trash. "Thoughts on the little mermaid?"

Sam lit up. "I love that movie! Ariel is my favorite. I mean, it's totally inaccurate, but I've got to hand it to you humans. You sure are passionate about everything mythical."

"Well, seeing as I'm talking to you, are you truly mythical?" He teased.

"Fine. I'm generalizing, okay?" Sam huffed good-naturedly.

Gabe laughed. "Are movies the only type of cinematography you've seen?"

"What do you mean?"

He said it before he could think. "Porn. I'm talking about porn. Have you ever watched any?"

Sam looked at him incredulously. "You sir, are a bafflement to society. But yeah. On Deans phone. We were laughing over how badly written one of them were."

"You watched porn with your  _ brother?" _

"Oh- no! Not like that. I've stolen his phone for a few days since it's waterproof and I have a submersible charger from Bela. Why are you asking though?"

He awkwardly twiddled his thumbs. "I uh, I used to direct porn actually."

"What?"

"Acted in a couple too."

"Oh my God." Sam groaned, hitting his forehead on the edge of the boat. "I had zero need for that visual."

"What, me in porn? Why I never! My honor and purity! Samuel, I'm offended you would ever picture me in such a gosh diddly darn inappropriate setting!" He did his best (worst) imitation of a middle aged southern woman.

"It was hideous. It was like someone had poorly photoshopped your face onto some generic body." Sam grimaced.

"Wow." He drawled. "Way to boost a man's confidence, Sammy."

"Sorry!" Sam laughed at him.

"So. If you're a mammal," He went back to leaning against the boat. "Do you have a dick?" He immediately shut his mouth, so hard he could hear his teeth clack. "SHIT! That was  _ so  _ inappropriate I'm so sorry!"

Sam was laughing, deep belly laughs, devolving into wheezing coughing laughter. "O-oh my go-God-" He managed to choke out. "Yes- holy shit- but yes, we're- mammals."

Gabriel buried his face in his hands. "What the fuck. I don't know where that came from." He could feel his face on fire as if a hundred spotlights had been turned on him, and he forgot all his material.

"Aw, you're cute when you're embarrassed." Sam laughed.

"What? Wait, what?!"

"Oh damn it-" Sam ducked behind Gabe. "Ship!"

"Don't you mean 'shit'?"

"No- just-" Sam lifted his torso out of the water by pushing up against the boat, rocking it almost dangerously, and pecked Gabriel's cheek. "See you later." He dropped his can of coke into the boat and pushed off the boat and back into the water.

Gabriel saw the sailboat that passed across the cove, waving at Chuck and Donna who were on the deck, still trying to process both that Sam had called him 'cute', and then kissed his cheek. There was somebody out there, and that somebody was finally getting on his side. Somebody who wanted him to get some hot mermaid tail.

Literally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops a day late (again)


	6. Chapter 6

"So." Gabriel was sitting with Charlie and Jo again. "I was thinking we should do something tonight." He was still riding on the high of Sam possibly harboring feelings for him. There was a chance that Gabriel's crush wasn't just unrequited puppy love.

"Yeah? Like what?" Charlie said off-handedly. "We could play apples to apples again. That was fun."

"I think my version is better still." Jo laughed, leaning into Charlie, her shoulder digging into the redhead's ribs. "Green apple cards and black cards against humanity cards. 18+ Apples to Apples."

Charlie shifted, trying to shy away from her bony girlfriend, causing Jo to suddenly pitch backward, with a quiet squeak of indignation.

"Well, that sounds like a better mashup than strip monopoly." Gabriel snickered at them, thinking back to his college days. "I always lost that game. Or maybe I won it. I'm actually still not sure. The rules were always kind of fuzzy."

"Oh, that's so fucked up." Jo groaned, righting herself and putting her head in her hands. "Especially that visual you just gave me. God- I never needed to imagine you naked. Ever."

"What is it with everyone imagining me naked today? First Sam, and now you!" He complained halfheartedly, freezing when he processed what he had said. Gabriel looked down at his martini glass and frowned. It seemed that the alcohol was giving him loose lips. Definitely not a good thing when you had a secret that was consistently weighing down on you.

Jo froze. "Uh, which Sam?" She asked, face contorted in what can only be described as a cross between someone who's constipated, and the stern face of a teacher who just caught the kid that put a tack on their chair.

Gabriel floundered with words, mentally juggling excuses. "Um, local guy works with, uh, Benny." He got out. "The fisherman."

"Oh! I've met Benny, but who's Sam?He cute?" Charlie interrupted, that God, and prodded at him, both theoretically and literally as she kicked him lightly in the shin under the table. It seemed that the redhead was a little too interested in his love life.

"None of your business girly." He pointed a finger at her menacingly. Well, as menacingly as he could manage in a maroon shirt with rainbow parrots embroidered across it. He could barely take himself seriously in the damn shirt.

"Aw! He is, and Gabey has a crush!" Charlie squealed. "Isn't that adorable Jo?" She slung an arm around her.

Jo scowled at Gabriel and shot him a 'we'll talk about this later' look. She obviously didn't believe his BS story. Her gaze was like tiny bolts of lightning burrowing into his skin, sending tingles of apprehension up his spine.

"Hm, what honey?" Jo asked, shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts and turned to smile sunnily at her girlfriend.

"I said, isn't it adorable that Gabriel's crushing so hard?" She reiterated, patiently. "He's like a puppy. Or an ostrich."

"What? Hey!" Gabe said in indignation. "How am I an ostrich? I can understand dog, like, a corgi or something, but ostrich?"

"Mm. Yes. Adorable." Jo turned that thousand watt glare back towards him, dropping her head into her hand, cupping her chin.

He swallowed nervously, stopping the whole ostrich train of thought, and stared down at his demolished fish and chips, picking up one of the remaining French fries and dragged it through the ketchup.

"So!" Jo clapped her hands suddenly. making Gabriel jump a little in his seat. "Have we decided on game night at all? That isn't Strip Monopoly or Sorry."

"No." Charlie pouted, reaching over and snatching a fry from Gabriel.

"Hey!" He yelped, smacking the back of her hand.

"Ow!" She gasped, sticking her tongue out at him and biting into it, savoring the taste as if to mock him. "Mmmm, delicious."

Jo sighs exasperatedly at the both of them, looking between them in disbelief. "Are you two five? Should we play, I dunno, chutes, and ladders?"

Gabriel gasped excitedly. "No way, do you have a copy of that game? Man! That was my childhood right there."

"Ooh! Ooh! Or candy land! That game was the shit." Charlie cut in.

Jo put her head in her hands, disappointed. "You two are just kindergarteners in adult bodies."

"Well, then Gabriel didn't learn how to share very well in kindergarten. Otherwise, he'd be giving me some of his fries."

"Bitch, get your own fries." He huffed, pulling the plate closer to him.

Charlie crossed her arms and leaned back into the plush red cushion on the back of the booth. "Asshole."

"Yup." He ate another fry to hit the point home.

Jo rubbed her temples. "Can we just decide on something to do tonight?"

"Karaoke?" Gabriel suggested.

"Rom-Com marathon." Charlie shot back.

"Doctor Sexy marathon."

"Ew gross, soap operas? Um, night time hike." Jo added.

"Ew, exercise?"

"Like, for real babe." Charlie groaned. "What are you? Healthy?"

"We could... I dunno go night swimming." Gabe pursed his lips, thinking about it.

"What, like skinny dipping?" Charlie asked.

"Ew, gross Charlie." He wrinkled his nose up. "Why would I want to go skinny dipping? I wouldn't want to see anything like that. I just think it'd be cool to go out after dark. They have those underwater flashlights and stuff."

"Ooh! Yeah!" She squealed. "We could borrow wetsuits and snorkeling gear."

"What do you think Jo?"

The blonde looked uncomfortable, shifting in her seat and cleaning under her fingernails. "Um, no thanks."

"Aw come on." Charlie pouted, pulling on her jacket.

"Your girlfriend is gonna have to know sooner or later, right?" Gabe word vomited, not thinking about what he was saying.

Charlie whipped her head around to look at him. "Know what?" She swung it around to look back at Jo. "Know what, Jo?" She had a look of dumbfounded incredulousness plastered on her face. "Know what?"

"Uh- um, that I'm, uh, I'm afraid of the ocean?" Jo offered up weakly, looking over Charlie's shoulder and meeting Gabriel's gaze, murder in her eyes.

"B-but, you live... On an island!"

"Er yeah, see I'm not- well, you know- It's just like, um." She stuttered, tripping over her words and fiddling with her hands nervously.

"Can you swim?" Charlie asked quietly, taking one of her hands gently as if comforting a wounded animal.

Jo saw her chance and took it, ducking her head in supposed shame. "No... I can't."

"Oh!" She smiled. "I can teach you! I used to be a lifeguard as a teenager so I taught little five-year-olds to swim all the time." She paused. "Not, not that I think you're five, but that I can teach you to swim.".

"N-no thanks," Jo muttered. "Thank you for the offer though."

"Aw. Well, okay." Charlie frowned, staring at her girlfriend in contemplation.

Jo stood up, scooting out of the booth. "I gotta, they're calling me, um, bye!" She got out, before all but running away.

Gabriel whistled. "Goddamn."

"She must really not like the ocean."

"Well obviously." He sighed. He had fucked up, he at least owed keeping cover for Jo. "You still wanna go snorkeling?"

"Hells yeah!" She grinned, tucking her short and wavy hair behind her ear.

"Meet you on the docks in an hour?"

"You got yourself a deal." She beamed at him.

\-----

He was leaving his room and locking the door behind him when someone shoved him roughly into the wall. He dropped the bag he'd been carrying, the contents spilling across the floor.

It was not a particularly comfortable wall at all, and having the side of his face pressed against it as someone held down the back of his head was very uncomfortable.

"Um, hi?" He choked out, a little worried.

"How. Do. You. Know. Sam." A voice growled from behind him. Hopefully, the one attached to the arm.

It clicked a second later. It was Jo, thank God. He wasn't really in the mood to get mugged. It wasn't like he had anything other than his laptop, and that was his lifeline. Plus, what kind of mugger asked about a mermaid?

"Hi, Jo!" He squeaked out.

She pushed his head into the wall even harder. "Alright, Gabriel. I asked you a question. Answer it!"

"Ow! Ow! I'll tell you! I'll tell you! Please, just let go." Gabriel winced. It was bad enough to get your head slammed by your friend, worse when you were being interrogated at the same time.

"Shit man." The blonde let go, letting him (mostly) regain his balance. "Sorry. But for real. How do you know Sam? And why... Do you know why I can't go in water?" She was speaking slowly, carefully choosing her words as though trying to speak gently.

"Well you, er- you're a mermaid, right? The whole, fish human thing?"

She stiffened and opened her mouth, probably to deny it, but shut it quickly, teeth clattering together. She winced subtly and touched her jaw as she thought out her response. "Well, yeah. But how do you know that?"

"Sam. As pertaining to your original question, he was talking earlier, and you got mentioned. So, Bobby and Ellen?"

Jo sighed, and grimaced a little, rocking back on her heels and shaking her head. "Yes and no. Bobby and my mom are married, but I'm a kid from her previous marriage. So..."

"Sensitive topic?" He smiled knowingly. Gabriel knew complicated family trees.

"Yeah. Long story short, I'm a mermaid. But! Back to the topic at hand. Sam, how and why do you know him?" She gestured with her hands, forehead furrowed in impatience.

He rubbed the side of his face gingerly, Gabriel could swear he felt it swelling. "Sam... Well, we're friends. Kinda."

"What do you mean kinda?" Jo asked him, narrowing her eyes. "Did you upset him? Do I have to hurt you, Gabriel?"

"No! No, not at all." He said quickly, holding up his hands in defense, and taking a step back. "I just, I'm awfully confused. He called me cute, and... Well." He smiled sheepishly.

She groaned. "Did you two fuck?"

"What?! No! Jo, he just kissed my cheek!" He sputtered, turning scarlet.

"You sure?" She put her hands on her hips and cocked them to one side, raising a sculpted eyebrow in disbelief.

"Yes! How- how would that even work?"

She crossed her arms. "Do you want me to explain it to you?"

He groaned and put his arms up in front of him. "No. No thank you. I don't wanna know."

"Well, when a mommy mermaid and a daddy mermaid love each other-" She smirked at him as she began the spiel.

"Ack- No!" Gabriel clamped his hands over his ears, resolutely not listening. "Lalala-"

"And then they decide they want a baby the male-"

"LALALALALALA."

"Oh, you're no fun." Jo pouted, eyes sparkling in amusement.

"I didn't need to know." He groaned, rubbing his temples with one hand. "That was... Uncalled for."

"You were chosen by Sam, for better or worse." She shrugged, swinging around and leaning against the wall nonchalantly. "It's my job to make your life uncomfortable. It's kinda the best friend code, yeah?"

"I... Guess?" Gabriel said, confusion lacing his words. "If that's how you want to justify it."

She flipped him off.

He let out a bark of surprised laughter. "Wow! How mature."

"Thank you, thank you." Jo took a sarcastic bow, blowing kisses to an imaginary audience.

He looked on, amused. It wasn't the stupidest thing he'd seen her do. Because the other morning, he'd watched helplessly as she put packets of salt into her coffee, bleary eyed and with matted hair. She drank quite a lot of it too, not realizing until she had drank a fifth of it.

"Why don't you come show Charlie?" He offered as a solution, bridging the conversation over to the issue at hand.

"Well..." She looked down, blonde hair falling on her face as she fiddled with a bracelet beaded with tiny seashells.

"Oh come on. You're scared?" Gabriel was baffled. "Coming from the woman with the knife collection."

Speaking of knives, she looked up and pinned him with a deadly glare, shooting daggers out of her eyes.

Seemed to be a common theme today.

"I'm not telling Charlie! What if she freaks and never wants to see me again?" She threw her hands up. "She's the best thing I've ever had in life! I can't lose her."

"Awww... That's sweet." He teased.

Jo rolled her eyes. "I mean, probably not a good idea to sneak up on you during a night dive and startle her with a tail. You know?"

"Okay, okay, I get it." He griped. "You've made your point." He picked up the towel that had rolled out of the lumpy tote bag, the side emblazoned with a pale green curlicue script that yelled Save the Earth. He'd gotten it free at a farmers market he went to once with Kali.

He threw the bag over his shoulder, elbow sticking straight out in a slightly uncomfortable position. "Catch you later Jo."

"Hopefully not literally!" She called to his back, laughing.

\-----

Wetsuits, he decided, were stupid.

What was the point of wearing a big, black body glove? This wasn't some weird Russian dungeon porn. If you're already wearing a swimsuit, why bother?

As soon as he reached the water and felt the cold shock, he realized why. Warmth. Right.

Charlie was right next to Gabriel, a stray lock of red hair escaping the hood. With a pair of snorkeling goggles up on her head and the snorkel grasped firmly in her teeth, she looked ridiculous as she was struggling to get her flippers on.

Gabe already had his on and was laughing at her through the plastic tube that tasted vaguely like saltwater in his mouth. She had insisted that 'It'll be easier to do these in the water'. Poor Charlie.

She noticed his laughter and scowled at him as effectively as she could while trying to balance on one foot as she put a bright yellow flipper that was reflecting the moonlight on the other.

He was holding both of their flashlights. They were told not to turn them on when they were on land because they were hi-beam and would 'overheat' so they were going by the dim amber streetlights that had seen better days that shone along the dock to their left.

Charlie got her heel into the flipper finally, it pops into place with a quiet squeal. "Hah!" She crowed triumphantly. "Beat that!"

Gabriel snorted at her antics. It was cute. She was like a little sister. A slightly annoying sister, but one whose company he enjoyed. Actually, she kind of reminded him of Anna. Maybe because they were both redheads. Wildly different personalities, but both vicious firecrackers of women.

She stuck out her bottom lip and pouted at him, eyes gleaming with mischief. He watched as she started to pivot.

"What? Charlie-"

She shoved against his chest with all her might, toppling him into the (freezing) ocean.

He was plunged into the water by a wave, and came up sputtering, spitting out a mouthful of sand and salt water. Gabriel gagged and felt like he was about to lose his lunch. Dinner. Whatever meal it was, he was going to blow his cookies and feed the fish.

Charlie was doubled over, laughing her head off. "Oh my god! That was priceless! I wish I had that on tape!"

Now, Gabriel had a performing arts degree, and a long history with Shakespeare, and used it to his advantage.

"You- yellow-bellied, scum sucking, red spotted salamander, a plague o' worms on you! May a thousand ice cubes fill your bra, and may your favorite Netflix show be canceled!"

"Oh! That is low Novak!" She gasped.

"Oops." He grinned, not at all sorry, before holding up one of the flashlights that he had miraculously been able to hold onto as he went down. "Just take your flashlight."

As she grabbed it, he tugged it towards him, pitching Charlie forward into the water. She screeched like a pterodactyl as she came up.

"Cold! Coldcoldcoldcold COLD!" She gasped, teeth chattering.

He laughed at her. "Don't like it huh?"

"You sir, are an asshole."

"Thank you, I try my best." Gabriel beamed, pulling his goggles into place, putting the snorkel in his mouth. He turned on the flashlight and saw the water glow in the spot they were in as it reflected off the sand that was churning up in the shallow area they were standing in. "Whoa."

Charlie followed suit, turning hers on as well, and pulling her goggles on, nose squished against the plastic. "Let's go!" Is what she probably said, but with the snorkel, it sounded like "Lesb goat." And Gabriel was like, 95% sure she wasn't talking about a lesbian goat. He could be wrong though. You never knew with Charlie.

She dove under the water, flashlight the only indicator where she was other than the little light at the top of her snorkel that glowed a soft red.

He took a deep breath and went in after her. Gabriel made sure that he kept the snorkel above water because he really didn't need another lungful of seawater.

They swam along the pier, shining light on the posts, seeing the urchins and sea stars that were clinging to the slowly rotting wood coated and covered with barnacles and algae. A lone silver fish the size of Gabriel's hand darted out of the way as they passed, frightened and retreating to the shadows.

As they left the pier behind and swam out to the closest buoy, a guitar ray danced along the sea floor, churning sand up into little clouds as its wings flapped, tail whipping the clouds into a subdued and gentle flurry.

Charlie stopped and started treading water, bringing her upper body out of the water, rocking with the waves. She gestured for him to come up.

Gabriel came up in front of her, and with the hand that wasn't wrapped around the flashlight that was tied to his wrist, he took out his snorkel. "What?"

She tugged it out of her mouth, spitting into water and smacking her mouth distastefully. "Ew, salty."

"Is that it? You just had to spit?" He groaned, reaching for the snorkel again.

"Wait- no! Here-" She fumbled with her flashlight, turning it off. "Now you."

"Wait- turn it off?" Gabriel sputtered. "You're kidding, right? There's sharks Red. Sharks!"

"They're harmless. Just- just trust me, dude. It'll be amazing." She tried to reassure him.

Gabe let out an incredibly dramatic sigh, making a big show of switching it off, sending them into complete darkness except for the soft glow of the island and the pinprick stars scattered across the sky. He recognized the W shape of Cassiopeia and the big and Little Dipper.

"That's it? The stars? Charlie, I could see this out in Montana if I wanted to." He said, exasperated, going back to turn the flashlight back on.

"Gabe, look down at the water," Charlie said excitedly.

"So? It's just...." As he kicked the water, little fireworks of blue and green lit up. "... the ocean."

"Isn't it amazing?" She said, awed.

"Yeah." He whispered voice lost into the waves as he watched mesmerized. "What is it?"

"Bioluminescence. It's algae and phytoplankton. They can only do this once every twenty-four hours. Isn't it incredible that you get to see it?"

"Yeah, no kidding."

"I'm going to swim to the next buoy. Coming?"

"Yeah- just a second." He fiddled with his flipper and felt it pop off. "Oh no- Shit! Shit!"

"What?"

"I dropped my flipper." He grumbled.

"Well go get it. Just catch up." She shrugged, putting her snorkel back in and swimming away.

He took a deep gulp of air and swam after it, struggling with the difference between his feet and the power in his kicks. Gabriel came back up to the surface disappointed, shining his flashlight down to where his flipper used to be, but it was gone. He spun around to see if it had floated elsewhere and screamed at what he saw.

\-----

Sam was right there, cocky expression on his face as he casually held up Gabriel's flipper.

"Hey, Cinderella. You dropped your slipper." The mermaid grinned, unfazed by Gabe's terror.

Gabriel snatched it out of his hand and tried to get it back on his foot, huffing.

"What the actual living fuck Sam? You scared the living bejeezus out of me!" He grumbled, as he finally popped his heel in.

"Sorry. I would've approached you sooner, but your friend was here."

"Oh, so scaring Charlie isn't okay, but scaring me is?"

"Obviously. I know you and care about you. I don't know her, so it'd be rude." He shrugged, tucking chestnut hair out of his face and behind his ears.

"Aw, you care about me?" He grinned at him. "How sweet."

Sam flushed scarlet, tail flicking irritably out of the water. "Don't be a jerk."

"That takes all the fun out of it though!" He laughed, dodging the few water droplets that sprayed in his direction.

Sam rolled his eyes. He wasn't impressed with the antics of the man in front of him. "Look, I don't have all the time in the world Gabe."

"Well then, lay it on me, Sammy." Gabriel spread his arms out, wide and sarcastic. He dropped them back into the water after a few seconds to help him tread water.

"Now I don't want to tell you." Sam laughed. "Since you're being an asshole and all."

"Sammmyyy." He whined, slinging an arm around his friend's shoulders. "I didn't mean it!"

The mermaid rolled his eyes, the corners of his mouth twitching up in a failed attempt not to grin. He shoved lightly at Gabriel's wetsuit-clad chest, dislodging him from where he was clinging onto Sam. "Uh huh, I don't believe you."

Gabriel stuck out his bottom lip, pouting. "I'm sorry. Tell me? Pretty please, with a cherry on top?"

"I don't know..." Sam stalled, grinning.

"And sprinkles, and fudge, what about Oreos?" Gabriel prodded, poking him in the chest, catching onto the mermaid's tactics.

"Okay, okay!" He chuckled, swimming backward, sending a current rushing around Gabe's legs. "I'll tell you."

"Wonderful." Gabriel smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling and folding up with his toothy grin. "Let's hear it Sambarino."

Sam pursed his lips and tilted his head disapprovingly, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Okay, please, never call me that again."

"What? Sambarino?" Gabe smirked. "Why not Sambarino? What's the problem, Sambarino?"

The disapproving look became a scowl as Sam swam and was suddenly, right in Gabriel's personal space. Then he felt a solid pair of hands grab his shoulders, and dunk him under the water with barely enough time to close his eyes.

It was even colder because the water had been drying off him while he was out of the ocean, so the shock was unwelcome. He was pulled up by the same hands that shoved him down as was met by the smug face of the world's prettiest mermaid.

"F-fuck you!" Gabe coughed, sticking his tongue to try and get the grossly salty taste out of his mouth. He couldn't wipe it on his sleeve because that was also covered in saltwater. What a shitty conundrum.

"If you want." Sam beamed, that sassy little shit.

Gabriel sputtered more and had some incredibly detailed thoughts that were incredibly R-rated based on that comment. A lot of them would probably only work if Sam had legs. And was as 

flexible as Gabriel hoped. He'd had this one boyfriend, who was a gymnast, and goddamn, what a great time that was, if you knew what he meant.

Sam's smile grew at the sight of how flustered Gabriel was, and he seemed to relish it.

"I hate you," Gabe grumbled, resigning himself to the taste of seawater.

"No, you don't." He shrugged.

"Are you gonna tell me at all?" Gabriel squinted at him through the dark, the only light being the moon that was gracefully lowering in the sky, settling on everything with a gentle silvery sheen. It illuminated Sam from the side, casting his face in shadow, light dancing and reflecting in his eyes.

"Might as well..." Sam trailed off, all the confidence gone, sliding off like a silk scarf, leaving a raw, exposed and anxious Sam behind.

"Oh god. Are you pregnant?" He asked, trying to break the tension that was thick in the air, only half serious.

"What? No!" Sam yelped. "How- how would that even be possible?"

"I don't know, you could be a seahorse mermaid." He joked.

"Ha ha, very funny, but..." Sam took a deep breath. "Ithinkyou'rereallyprettyandIwanttodateyou."

Gabriel blinked slowly. "Er? What? Can you repeat that, but at human pace please?"

"I want to date you because you're cute and funny, and-" Sam rushed, breathing heavily, putting a hand over his face, peeking through his fingers.

"Whoa! Whoa there kiddo. Going a bit fast here, aren't we?"

Sam hunched his shoulders. "I'm sorry- I should have known you weren't interested-"

"Hey now, who said I wasn't interested?" Gabe grinned.

Sam's head whipped up. "What? Really? You mean it?"

"Uh, duh?"

Sam grabbed his face, crashing their lips together in a heated kiss. It was messy and uncoordinated, but Sam tasted like one of those ocean scented candles, clean and fresh. Gabriel could only come along for the ride and hope he had brushed his teeth as he slung his arms around Sam, pulling him close.

As they broke away to breathe, Sam grinned. "I've wanted to do that for so long."

"Don't know why you waited so long then kiddo." Gabriel touched his lips gingerly, the kiss still ghosting over them.

"I'm glad I-"

"Gabriel!" Charlie yelled voice faded from over the waves.

"I gotta go." He apologized to Sam, awkwardly, grabbing at his snorkel. "See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow." Sam smiled giddily as he waved and ducked under the waves, swimming the opposite direction.

Gabriel watched him go and then swam over to Charlie, flashlight gripped tightly in hand, wearing the biggest smile he'd had in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll probably end up posting chapter 7 early, seeing as I'm going to be gone next sunday.


	7. Chapter 7

Sam had said he'd be here. At least, Gabriel was pretty sure that's what Sam had said. The days had started to blur together, weeks flying by, and every hour on the water was spent with Sam by his side. His life seemed to have gotten better and better, as Sam would lean over every now and then and kiss him. Now that their feelings were all out in the open there was a quiet and unspoken ease they had around each other. 

 

Gabriel would spend the day out with Sam hanging on the side of his boat, chasing fish towards him, and catching the hard to find ones. Nothing spectacular of course, because that would draw too much attention, but helping nonetheless. Sam was an ingrained part of Gabe's life. He found himself buying things, like salads, or Twinkies, because Sam had never tried them. (The Twinkies didn't really go over well, Sam spat it out and decided he hated them. But the salads had been received pretty well, and he'd be damned to hell before he admitted to buying kale. For Sam or otherwise). Or he would go find little things to take pictures of to show the merman. Things like a cool tree, with swirling and intertwined branches, or the postman who wore a floppy straw hat and smoked while leaning against the pier fence on his breaks. Sam, who was always enthusiastic about anything pertaining to land, was consistently impressed. His favorite thing was the picture of the rack of postcards. Sam wanted to go everywhere in the world, he said. Gabe at that moment wanted nothing more than to take him everywhere his heart desired.

 

But Sam said he needed to talk to Gabriel and to meet him on the beach. He only hoped it was going to be a good conversation because he cared too much about Sam to try and even imagine something negative.

 

As he was waiting, Gabe was sitting under a manzanita tree, the trunk cool against his back as he watched the waves beat against the boat that he had tugged up onto the beach, sand pushed into a wall around the bow of the little dinghy. He looked up into the sparse branches at the blue sky, lazy wisps of clouds drifting across it. He sighed, and crossed his arms behind his head, leaning back. He closed his eyes and tossed his flip flops off to the side. Gabe dug his toes into the warm sand as he tried to relax.

 

The waves and the squawks of gulls lulled him into an ease he hadn't felt in years. There was always something going on in his life, always someone to entertain, always something to do. He couldn't remember the last time he'd truly had downtime. There had been instances of course, like nights when Kali was out with her friends and he could read a book, but he'd never been able to do this. He let out a breath that seemed carry the weight of the world, and felt as if he was floating once it was gone and off his shoulders. 

 

Gabriel was half asleep, eyelids fluttering when he heard a splash in the water. He cracked open an eye and grinned at what was there.

 

Sam's head and shoulders were out of the water, hair plastered and stuck to his face. A hand reached up to sweep it out of his eyes, and a brilliant grin lit up Sam's face as he saw Gabriel laying there, on the beach.

 

Gabe sat up slowly, throwing his arms in front of him to pull his torso up to his knees. "Hey! Hey, Sam!"

 

The mermaid waved and swam over to some rocks that were close to the beach, near the side of the cove, and into a particularly deep tide pool. He flicked his tail expectantly. "Come over here! I can't swim on the beach ya know!" Sam called, laughing.

 

Gabriel put a hand into the sand to stabilize himself as he stood up slowly, and brushed it on his pants the try and get all of it off. He grimaced when he realized his entire backside was coated in sand. Gabe shook around a little and contorted to get as much as he possibly could, off. He figured he was okay and did a little run-jog over to Sam.

 

"Nice weather, huh?" The mermaid grinned as he approached.

 

"Oh my god. Small talk? Really kiddo?" Gabriel groaned, tilting his head back in exasperation.

 

"What? Can't a man talk about the weather with his boyfriend?" Sam chuckled. 

 

Gabriel knew he was nervous from how Sam's hands started fidgeting, and the rhythmic swish of his tail under the water.

 

He narrowed his eyes at him and frowned. "What. What is it?"

 

Sam his hand behind his back uncomfortably. "Well- um- no it's stupid- never mind-"

 

"Sam." He admonished. "Look, as long as you're not breaking up with me, nothing you can say can scare me off."

 

Sam stayed quiet, eyes turned skywards, as his chest heaved.

 

"Oh god, you are breaking up with me." Gabriel inhaled sharply through his teeth.

 

"What?" Sam shook his head in shock. "Gabe- No! No, I'm not breaking up with you!"

 

"Well, then what? Why are you so restless?"

 

"I-"

 

"And don't bullshit me Samster."

 

Sam scowled at the name, which was the intended effect, to snap Sam out of it. His face returned to a more neutral state, but his eyebrows were still drawn together in concern.

 

"Look, I- If you're not ready for this step, well, that's okay, but, uh." He stammered out, pulling out the hand that was clasped behind his back, and letting it splay open, revealing a little silver band with a pearl embedded on the side, and a tiny stone next to it.

 

"Sam, it's gorgeous." He said in admiration, tilting his head to look at it in all angles.

 

"Thanks..." Sam ducked his head, smiling in embarrassment. "Missouri helped me make it. I'd been trying to find the perfect pearl for ages, and I only found it a few days ago." He pointed at the little rock. "That's an agate. It's kinda a honey, bourbon-ish color like your eyes."

 

"You made this? Holy shit Sammy, that's incredible." He beamed at the mermaid. 

 

"I didn't do all of it, but... I did a lot of it." He blushed. "I'm glad you like it."

 

"Hold on. What did you mean by next step?" Gabriel asked, thinking back to what Sam had said, face rapidly contorting into a mask of worry. "And what do you mean 'not be ready'?"

 

Sam rolled his eyes, and with his free hand, smacked the back of Gabe's head. "I'm giving you a ring, idiot. See if you can figure it out."

 

"Oh. Oh!" Gabe smacked his forehead with his palm, laughing in shock. "You're proposing?"

 

"Er, yes?" He giggled nervously. "I mean, what else would I be doing with a ring like this?"

 

"I- Sam, I-" Gabriel stumbled on his words, his tongue feeling like lead. "I- I can't."

 

Sam recoiled as if struck. "What? What do you mean Gabe? No?"

 

Gabriel hunched his shoulders and willed himself to sink into the ground. "We- Sam, you mean so much to me, but we haven't even said 'I love you' yet. And you're talking about marriage?"

 

"But- Gabe, I do love you. I- I thought you felt the same, but clearly, we have totally separate stances here." Sam looked down, heartbreak dripping through his voice. "God, this is Jess all over again."

 

"Sammy no- I, shit, look, kid, I love you too. Just, how would this work? I've got a huge job up here, I travel all over the country. There's no way I could stay here with you." He paused and took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice from wavering. "I- I can't stay here, and I would never forgive myself if I uprooted you."

 

Sam grabbed his wrist desperately. "I don't care Gabriel. I love you, you love me, isn't that enough? I'd go anywhere for you." He begged him.

 

Gabe gave a weak, half-hearted smile as his eyes started watering. "Sam... I can't. What if we fall apart? What happens to you then? You said it yourself, you mate for life. If I do something stupid and break us apart, what will you do? Come back here and stay with your brother, heartbroken and alone?"

 

"Yes goddamnit!" Sam practically yelled at him, shoulders taut and tense. "If that happens, at least I'll know I fucking tried!"

 

"I'm sorry Sam-" Gabriel pleaded.

 

Sam threw the ring into the sand. "Screw you and your worthless apologies. I hope I never see you again."

 

"What? Sam! Hey, no babe-!" He scrambled towards him as Sam slipped off the rock and into the water below. 

 

Gabriel fruitlessly tried to grab onto Sam, but the mermaid slipped away like a greased pig. He sat back in shock and horror as his joy and happiness slipped through his fingers once again. He turned and dug in the sand, searching for the ring. Gabe let out a sigh of relief when he found it and held it to his chest. As tears welled up in his eyes, he prayed to whoever was up there, anyone who might be listening, to help him make things right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wait, did you think you could get through this whole story without any angst? Ohohoho, you thought wrong my friend!


	8. Chapter 8

Gabriel fiddled with the little gold band hastily strung onto a few frayed and tightly braided pieces of yarn tied around his neck. He hadn't seen Sam in weeks and it was destroying him. He let his head fall back into the foot of the bed that he was leaning against. He clutched a bottle of cheap liquor store brandy, the cap hastily broken off with the paper on the neck torn haphazardly. He glared at it as if it had offended him.

"You... You- di-did thus to yarself." He slurred, glaring at his half reflection in the bottle, and jabbed a finger at it. "Yoouu ru... ruined et." Gabriel hiccuped and took another swig, wincing at the burn.

The soft, but abrupt knock at the door jolted Gabriel out of his reverie. "Who izit?" He shouted, voice cracking.

"It's Charlie and Jo, you miserable shit bag!" Jo yelled through the door.

"Don com'in." He groaned, burying his head in his arms.

"Too bad. Chuck already gave us his key!" Charlie called. "We're coming in, so if you can, please put on pants."

Gabriel frowned deeply. Chuck was a traitor. He broke the bro code. Well, it wasn't as if they really had a bro code anyways. They were friendly, but not friends. The guy was always too busy fawning over Donna as it was. And fuck Charlie. He didn't have to put on pants if he didn't want to.

The door creaked open, the hinges worn out over the years of overuse and the constant salt in the air. Jo looked around the room for him before her eyes finally landed on his defeated figure. "... Whoa, Gabe. I knew it was bad, but holy shit." The blonde crouched down, hair falling over her shoulders and into her eyes in a curtain. She swept it behind her ears and then set her hands on her knees. "What's happening champ? You look like hell warmed over."

"Thanks..." He muttered, looking at her through one partially cracked open eye.

Gabriel heard the bed behind him squeak and felt it dip as Charlie climbed onto it. Or so he assumed. He kind of knew for sure once he felt a tentative hand comb through his hair soothingly. Unless it was a ghost, but he assumed that was pretty unlikely.

"So. Spill the beans. What happened?" Jo prodded him.

"Oh nothing. Sam pro-pro..." He struggled to find the word, snapping when he remembered it. "Proposed! Right, Sammich- get it? Like, sandwich, but with Sam-" Gabriel cut himself off when he realized he was rambling, and pursed his lips together in a half-frown.

"Wait- hold up!" The hand in his hair stopped moving as Charlie (yeah it was definitely Charlie) slid off the bed and onto the floor with him, grabbing the sides of his face with both of her hands, and pulling his head up to look him dead in the eyes. " _ Proposed?! _ "

"Yeeeeah." He groaned. "Crazy right? Me, datin' a mermaiiid."

Jo froze, and looked at Charlie. "How was he able to say that? Y-you don't know anything about-"

"I talked to your mom." The redhead said levelly. "But that, is a conversation for another day." She turned back to Gabriel. "You, sir, have some explaining to do."

"Aw! Jojo's all flustered." Gabe teased her, before groaning when his head started to hurt again. Charlie made it worse by flicking him in the temple. "Ow!" He winced.

"I said  _ explain,  _ not harass Jo." She huffed at him.

"Okay- okay!" Gabriel muttered, rubbing the spot she flicked him in gingerly. "Um- well... Sammy proposed, and I, I said no."

"What the fuck? You moron!" Jo chastised him. "Sam's obviously the best thing to ever happen to you, and you had the gall to say no?"

"I know- I know- I'm an idiot! I couldn't let him do it though." He groaned, burying his head in his arms, muffling his next sentence.

"What? What was that?" Charlie asked. "C'mon Gabe, head up."

"I said, I wouldn't let him do it, I loved him too much. God, I loved- love Sam so much." He wiped at his eyes, tears welling in the corners.

"Well if you love him that much, then why didn't you accept his proposal? Clearly you're all torn up about this." Jo put a hand on his shoulder, her voice softening a bit as she saw how overwhelmed he was.

"Yeah." Gabriel scoffed, gesturing at himself. "Clearly. Lookit me! I'm- Ima mess."

"But why? He obviously made you happy. Why wouldn't you let yourself have that happiness? And seeing as he proposed he must have felt the same way about you, Gabe." Charlie murmured to him.

"Because, I would have ruined his life. I travel all across the country for my job. I'm never in one place for long. I  _ couldn't  _ uproot Sammy. That'd just be... so, fundamentally, wrong." He threw his hands out in front of him, palms facing up. "All his family, and all his friends, they all live here. My last partner, my girlfriend Kali, she left me because I was gone so frequently. What if Sam becomes unhappy, and wants to, to end it? That w-would destroy me, just the fact that he wasted his once shot at love on  _ me. _ The useless, self loathing comedian who makes his living off being an asshole on stage. What kind of life would that be for Sammy?"

"One with the man he loves in it." Jo sighed, taking her hand off his shoulder, and patting his knee with it. "This is something you've got to fix Gabriel. I can bet you anything that Sam is off somewhere crying his eyes out, because you were selfish enough to break his heart to protect yourself. You coward." She stood up, gesturing for Charlie to as well.

His head snapped up to look at her. "What? I- I'm doing this  _ for  _ Sam! How can't you see that?" He sputtered indignantly.

"I gotta agree with Jo, Gabe. I know you had good intentions, but I think you're just putting the both of you through unnecessary pain."

"Charlie, you were supposed to be on my side." Gabriel pleaded with the redhead.

"Haven't you heard?" She shot him a sympathetic smile, and offered out a hand to help him up. "The saying goes, pain is inevitable, but suffering, well suffering is optional. In your case, you can end this suffering quickly. Go, find Sam, and make things right."

He took Charlie's hand reluctantly, letting her assist in pulling him up off the floor. The whiskey bottle clattered off his lap and onto the floor, where it started pouring all over the hardwood laminate. Jo sprung into action and snatched it up, setting it on the bureau that was across from both beds, next to Gabriel and Chuck's suitcases. She hurried to the bathroom, snatching up a hand towel and throwing it down onto the mess. By the time Jo had finished with that, was when Gabriel actually started to process what had happened. Goddamn. He had drank  _ way  _ too much.

"Thanks Joanna." He said gratefully.

"You're welcome. Now, don't ever call me that again, and we'll be completely fine." She chuckled, picking up the bottle and giving it a curious sniff, recoiling in horror. "Ew, dude, gross! This shit shouldn't even be considered  _ alcohol. _ "

"I definitely appreciate you insulting my taste in gas station liquor." Gabriel drawled.

"Wow! Turns out Gabe is a sassy drunk!" Charlie laughed. "Alright mister, go brush your teeth so they don't rot, and then drink a glass of water. I'll throw your pajamas into the bathroom in a bit, so you can put 'em on and go to bed. Capiche?"

"Loud and clear, captain bossypants." He muttered, trudging into the bathroom reluctantly.

"That's queen bossypants to you, peasant!" She yelled after him, while Jo snickered in the background.

\-----

Gabriel was sitting in the adjoining bar to the hotel, clutching a glass of seltzer water and trying to nurse his hangover with enough Tylenol not to kill him, but pretty damn close. The menu was open in front of him as he stared blankly at it. He wasn't that hungry, but he knew he had to eat. The warped plastic laminate was peeling at the corners as he scanned through the page of food, and the three of alcohol. He finally decided on the grilled cheese. Small enough that it wouldn't make him hurl, and large enough for him to have energy to run on the next day.

"So." A gruff voice said as Gabriel saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked up to see Dean, with his arms crossed, notepad tucked under his armpit. "You're the asshole who shattered my little brothers heart. Shame that you were funny, because, it seems that I'm going to have to kill you."

He let his head drop onto the table with a dull thud, and groaned. "Hi Dean... And if that's what I gotta do to make Sammy happy, hell, I'll put the gun up to my own head."

"Well damnit. That takes all the fun out of it if there's no struggle." Dean said dryly. "And you're damn right you'll do it for Sammy. What the hell were you thinking? The kid was so gone on you!"

"'M sorry." Gabriel sighed, sitting back up, but resolutely not looking at Dean. Instead he was focusing on a spot over the man’s shoulder, on the wall where the molding wallpaper met with the ceiling near the bathrooms.

Dean definitely noticed, and snapped directly in front of his face. "Hey! Hey look at me! You have two options going for you buddy. Option A: you get the fuck off this island before I put a bullet between your eyes, or Option B: you pull your head out of your ass and go make up with my baby brother. Either way is a win for me."

Gabriel tried to give him his absolute best puppy dog eyes, and stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. "Can't I just... Not?"

"Oh no you don't." Dean involuntarily snorted at him. "If you even knew my brother for a day, you'd know that his puppy eyes are the only one that ever work. Plus, I've got years of experience resisting them." He snatched Gabriel's menu out from under his arms with a quick snap of his wrist. "Make your decision while I go get your order prepared."

"But I haven't even-"

"Dude, you're hungover and look like you're about to lose your cookies all over the floor. You're ordering grilled cheese. It's pretty much a no brainer." Dean shrugged at him, suddenly nothing but nonchalance. It slipped away to the same scary Dean who was confronting him earlier. "But I  _ mean it _ . Make your decision, or you have a date with my colt."

Gabriel gulped, and worried his lip between his teeth, shoulders taught. "Yep. I'll do that. Just, just gonna sit here and make my decision."

Dean sent him a truly evil and dark grin, before stalking off towards the kitchen.

Once he was gone, Gabe let his head fall into his hands, elbows propped up on the table. "I'm a huge fucking idiot." He whispered to himself. Sam, Sam loved him too. He loved Sam. Hell, even Mr. Grumpypants McDean saw it. Sam was, how'd he say it? ' _ Shattered' _ . Gabriel was a first rate asshole. Jo was completely right. It was a terrible and selfish move on his part, purely for his benefit. He was so head over heels for the merman that he'd practically become an ostrich with how far he stuck his head in the sand.

Yeah, of course there were going to be spats, and fights, and everything under the sun. But, Gabriel had  _ never _ felt this way before about anyone. Not even Kali. Hell, if he was a spiritual man, he'd even go as far as to say that what he and Sam had, was true love. He'd take every single conflict thrown his way for that kind of connection.

He was a complete moron for not seeing it beforehand. But, hey, better late than never, right? He just hoped that even with his (albeit massive) blunder, there was still something that he could salvage. Even if he did have to pull it out from under eight stories of smoldering concrete and rubble. That was on fire. Twice.

The only loose screw in his plan was always the possibility that Sam would reject him. Gabriel wouldn't really blame him if he did, to be completely honest.

He was so lost in thought, he wasn't even aware that Dean was next to him until a plastic plate clattered in front of him, rattling and rocking a little bit before it settled into place. The bread was toasted well, if not a little blackened where the metal of the toaster had been.  It was cut neatly in half, fine orange strings of cheese connecting the two pieces. There was a slice of tomato haphazardly slung onto the side of the plate. Gabriel was broken off his train of thought when the man standing next to him gave a very deliberate cough.

He jumped. (Just a little bit though. Not, yeah,  _ definitely _ not any substantial jumpage was happening.) "Hi Dean." If his voice was a couple octaves higher than normal, well it obviously was because of the Tylenol. That was it.

"So." Dean frowned down at him. At six foot, even slouching, the guy was intimidating. Now add a shitton of angry protective big brother vibes, and you've got yourself a shit-your-pants intimidating situation going on. Which, unfortunately, was exactly what Gabriel found himself in. "You come to a decision yet? Or should I make it for you?"

Gabe gave a forced smile, and wiped his palms on his jeans. "Yep! Made a decision, that's for sure."

"And?" Dean prodded, hand waving impatiently. "I don't have all day, you know."

"I'm gonna make it up to Sammy. If it's the last thing I do." He sat up straighter, and tried to put his shoulders back in a show of confidence. Instead it just looked like a middle school boy who was gearing himself up to ask his crush to the school dance. God, he was pretty damn pathetic.

"Damn. I was hoping I could shoot you. It'd be a  _ lot _ more satisfying." Dean huffed, rolling his eyes. He dropped a set of silverware wrapped in a black cloth napkin onto the table. "In case you're the type of weirdo who likes to eat his sandwiches with a fork."

"I'm not  _ that  _ much of a monster." Gabriel protested. "I eat my baby-heart sandwiches like any normal person, with my hands!" He joked, trying to lighten the mood and dispel the big black storm cloud that was seemingly following Dean around.

"Uh huh." The bartender nodded, eyebrows arched, but definitely trying to hide a smile, with the way his eyes were creasing and how the corners of his mouth were tilting up. "Well, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm afraid the kitchen is completely out of baby hearts."

"Oh no. How will I ever enjoy my dinner now?" Gabriel deadpanned, his only goal at the moment was to see if he could make Dean crack any form of a smile.

"I can go back to see if there's any pig brains." Dean shot back, just as levelly, but his eyes twinkling with just littlest but of mischief.

The elderly lady at the table directly behind Dean seemed to have caught onto their conversation and had a look of horror on her face, her wrinkles becoming even deeper from her grimace.

Gabriel caught Deans eye and looked pointedly at the lady's table, with a subtle nod.

Dean glanced over his shoulder quickly and grinned at him, as they both silently agreed to up their game.

"Damn, are you sure? I could've sworn I saw a jar of pickled kidneys through the window."

"Oh, oh no, I'm sorry I can't give you one of those. We use those exclusively for our specialty blue ribbon burgers." The bartender smirked.

Gabriel had the problem of trying to keep a straight face, because he could  _ feel _ the woman's eyes burning into him. He put all his years of theatrical training into use, and looked the blonde right in the eyes, and without missing a beat asked, "So, what's in the grilled cheese then?"

"Bat guano."

The lady at the table gasped sharply, and stood up quickly. She swung her purse around to the side, and unzipped the hideous leopard print monstrosity to grab out her wallet. Slapping a ten dollar bill on the table, and grabbing her husband by the upper arm she let out an angry puff of air. "Why, I never! Come on Harold, we're leaving this horrific establishment."

The old, balding man adjusted his bifocals, and looked up at her. "But Karen! I've barley touched my cheeseburger." He looked down at it forlornly as his wife pulled him up out of his chair, and dragged him towards the door, in a fit of rage.

Dean bit his lip and dug his nails into his palms to contain his laughter. That was, until the couple were out the door, the old spruce door closing merrily after them, the little bell ringing. Once that happened, the guy fucking lost it, doubling over laughing, hands on his knees.

Gabriel was grinning harder than he had in a long time, the dark atmosphere completely dissolved. Although he was kind of worried for Dean, who looked as if he was about to bust a capillary at any moment with how red in the face he was.

He finally stood up straight after a solid minute, breathing heavily and wiping away tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes. He coughed and schooled his face into a far more serious look. "Despite how amusing that was, and the fact that this experience has pretty much made my week, I swear, you hurt my brother any more, and they will never find your body."

"Okay okay!" He muttered, putting his hands up in front of him defensively. "I get it."

"Good." The bartender nodded at him. "Enjoy your dinner then."

Gabriel watched Dean stalk off, and then looked down at his plate. Strangely enough, having your life threatened really put a damper on your appetite.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah yeah I know its been like a month so uh, early chapter, yay!

The branches cracked under his feet, and the constant scratch of the prickly bushes growing onto, and impeding parts of the well-trodden path kept him alert. His phone flashlight shone a harsh white light onto the ground in front of him. He purposely kept his eyes on the ground, because a little while back he'd looked up and saw a deer, whose eyes reflected the light in a way that looked almost demonic. To be completely honest, Gabe almost shit his pants with how terrified he was in those first few seconds before he realized exactly what it was. 

Sure, it was a hell of a lot quicker to take the road straight down to the docks, but Gabriel needed some time to think. Hence the long, winding and wooded trail up into the hills, down the sloping valley, and finally along cliffs parallel to the shore. 

He had to convince Sammy he wasn't kidding about how he felt about him. It wasn't some joke that he was playing on the mermaid, and by no means was it said with anything that could even be taken as something with ill intent. The kid meant too damn much to him. 

His heart ached just thinking about the kind of shit he'd put Sam through. The guy had laid it all out on the line like that, and Gabriel just stepped on it and ground his heel. He looked at the ring around his neck, swinging merrily with every step he took. And then he felt the box tucked into his coat pocket, pressing against his hip as a constant reminder.

"The little jewelry shop on the corner of north and main, it's the best in town." Was what Jo had told him when he asked, so he meandered over, taking a deep breath before walking into the little mom and pop store with the delicate glass floral wind chimes hanging cheerfully from the slatted wood overhang. The glass door swung open with an ease that could only be achieved by constant upkeep and oiling. The lady there was nice enough, she directed him to the rings and helped him pick one out. When she asked the size, he'd drawn a blank. He had no idea what size Sam's fingers might be and just guessed, showing her his thumb and hoping for the best. He'd left with a significantly lighter wallet and a black velvet box.

He reached into his pocket, absentmindedly rubbing it, trying to focus on what he was going to say. He couldn't be too blunt, but at the same time, he had no desire to be a hallmark movie. What was the line between sweet and saccharine? 

Gabriel clicked the home button of his phone with his thumb and grimaced at his battery percentage. 23%. Shit. That wasn't exactly reassuring seeing as there were definitely mountain lions on Catalina island. Although, that definitely brought up the question about how exactly they got there. It was highly unlikely they swam practically a hundred miles or more for no guarantee on a home. But, they could have also been shipped there, relocated from the L.A. Hills. 

Shaking his head, Gabriel guided his attention away from mountain lions and onto, what was probably, the most important topic of his life. This was a huge, massive, absolutely ginormous deal. Life changing kinda deal. What he said would determine if he could get the (mer)man of his dreams, or if he'd return to New York sad, broken, and utterly alone. He prayed to whatever cruel and capricious god who had decided they had nothing better to do than toy with his life, that they would let him have this, and he'd never ask for anything again.

For a stand-up comic who was renown for coming up with most of his material on the spot, for once in his life, Gabe was at a loss for words. He chewed the inside of his cheek as the terrain suddenly became sparser and the smell of salt became a hundred times stronger. Soon enough, he could see the waves silhouetted against the horizon, the low light glow from the city gently highlighting the peaks of every wave. Damn it, he was running out of time.

He carefully scaled down the side of the crumbling cliff, jumping from boulder to boulder as they slowly tapered off into smaller and smaller rocks till the point where it was gravel and then sand. He procrastinated on walking to the dock, justifying it as not wanting to get his shoes full of sand. Taking less than graceful and rather clumpy steps, Gabriel finally made it to the stairs that led up to the dock, where all the boats were tied up or beached. He grabbed the railing and immediately regretted it. It was simultaneously moist, and crusty. Gabriel did not want to know why choosing instead to wipe his hand on his jeans.

He climbed up and walked along the dock, turning off his flashlight as the streetlights lining it was more than enough for him. Gabriel walked towards the spot where he knew his boat was, and climbed in, patting the side affectionately. "Didja miss me?" Of course, it didn't. It was a boat. He checked the fuel levels and tugged the starting cable with a vengeance, trying to get it to fire on the first try. 

It started up reluctantly, and with a slight whine, that faded after a few seconds. He dropped the propeller into the water and untied the rope from the rusting boat hook. After making sure everything was in order, he set off, the route so ingrained in his memory, that he would have bet a substantial amount of cash on being able to do it with his eyes closed.

Probably wouldn't be safe. To be completely honest? Knowing himself, he'd probably end up hitting some poor sea lion by accident. So, Gabe made a mental note not to ever boat while blindfolded. He turned the rudder and started guiding the boat out of the harbor, avoiding the rocks that he'd crashed into one too many times.

Gabriel glanced up at the sky and grimaced. The cloud cover was heavy, and despite the low light, he would guess that they were probably threatening to rain. With any luck, he'd be safely tucked away with Sam before it even started to drizzle.

He pulled the throttle, and the nose of the boat rose up a little, and the little life jacket slid down to his feet. Gabe picked it up and set it behind him. 

Squinting at the island proved rather fruitless seeing as all he was really able to make out were general shapes and darker outlines in places. Not fantastic for navigation. Then he had an epiphany and cut the engine. The little boat sputtered to a stop, water sloshing up the sides.

Gabriel pulled out his phone and opened google maps. He zoomed out on the island, and metaphorically, but probably literally, put his life in the hands of his little pocket sized GPS. And he wasn't really the type of guy who rooted for A.I. anyway. Once his phone communicated with something somewhere and his little blue arrow showed up on the map, he tried to type in his destination. Google had trouble mapping him any type of route until he changed his type of travel from 'driving' to 'boat'.

"In eleven point three miles, turn left."

"Specific." He grumbled. Maybe with the little bit of assistance, he wouldn't be left stranded out at sea, only to wake up a week later on a deserted tropical island. It'd be like in the movies, where he would stay until he grew a beard to his ankles, and got rescued by writing 'help' in the sand with rocks and palm leaves. And he'd have a volleyball who he named Wilson. 

Gabe snickered at his own joke, and started the engine back up, coaxing it to life. As it finally started with the same whine, he gunned the throttle one more time, heading straight, looking at his map. 

Trying to gauge just how far each bit was, was way too complicated for him. It involved a lot of math. One thing he was sadly, never good at. He eyed the water suspiciously. He wasn't sure if it was just him, but he could almost swear the tide was coming in. 

"Turn left in three thousand feet." The robotic and strangely British voice sounded out, tinny through the tiny speaker of his phone.

Gabriel didn't know how far three thousand feet was. Hell, Gabriel barely knew what a hundred feet were. He had a strange idea of that being a football field, but the longer he thought of it, the more he started to suspect it was probably yards.

"Turn left in two thousand feet." The phone said after a few minutes. So maybe, as long as he could maintain his current speed, he'd be able to judge milage by the passage of time. Relying on his sight was quickly becoming less and less of an option as it got darker and darker. 

Damn. He really should have thought this out. Or waited till the morning. If he died out here, he was totally placing the blame on Dean and then coming back to haunt his ass. 

But hey. It's already happening. You can't change reality. How'd the French say it? C'est la-something-or-the-other. Whatever, all he knew was that it roughly translated out to 'so is life'. 

At least, that's what Cassie's white suburban mom friends would have him believe. What, with all their scrapbook shadow boxes, and inspirational quotes printed on chunky canvas and hung up over their kids' participation trophies. And, God forbid, those cutesie little window stickers of the stick figure families stuck onto the back of their various minivans. If he'd have gone into the sticker trade, he'd probably be worth something like a million bucks, because those things were fucking everywhere.

"Turn left."

Gabriel cursed at himself, dragging the rudder abruptly, turning the boat with a dangerous tilt to it.

"Continue straight for two point six miles." 

He sighed and leaned back, pushing back and rotating his shoulders. He winced a little when he heard the crack and pop of his joints. Hopefully, that wasn't any indication of his age.

Taking another look up at the clouds, Gabriel realized they were coming in a lot quicker than he had anticipated. Worrying his lip between his teeth, he tried to remember the weather forecast. Since the new update had come out, he didn't have the weather app any longer. Maybe the storm would just pass them by without a single  drop hitting the ground. Wishful thinking was what that was. 

All he could hope for was that there wasn't lightning. With his luck, he'd get struck twice. 

Gabe stared down at his screen that was resting on his knee, turning the boat accordingly. 

"In one point two miles, turn left to arrive at your destination." 

"Thanks, Siri." He rolled his eyes. He was able to see the outline of one of the cliffs that surrounded the little cove. He was sure at that point, because he could see the little tree up at the top, leaves fluttering in the wind that was rapidly picking up speed.

He turned off his phone, as he turned into the spot that meant more to him than anywhere else on the island. He got the boat as close to the side as he could, scanning the water for any signs of movement. For a second, he could have sworn that he saw a flash of green under the water, but he blinked and it was gone.

"Sam? Sam?" He called out, voice being lost over the water.

"Oh, hey!" A voice piped up from at the bow of his boat.

Gabriel's head whipped around, hoping to see Sam, and deflating once he realized that it wasn't him.

"Dude, you really shouldn't be out here, you know?" The guy, who Gabriel guessed was a mermaid, and then figured out it was that Ash guy. Only because of his mullet. God, what a disaster of a fashion statement.

"I'm looking for Sam- have you seen him?" He asked Ash, his voice juuuuust this side of desperate.

"Oh. Dude, you're the guy." His nose wrinkled. "C'mon man, so not cool. You broke Sam's, heart. Dick move, dick move."

"I know, I know. But that's why I've gotta find him you see," Gabriel said quickly. "I'm trying to fix it."

"Look, if I knew where Sam was, I'd tell you." Ash shrugged, his tail flicking out of the water, a chaotic marble of maroon and black. "But I don't."

"Please." His voice cracked, and his eyes watered as he gave the mermaid what he knew was his Patented Pathetic Gabe Face™.

Ash frowned. "Damnit man, I can't resist that. He, he swam out to sea, I don't know exactly where, but knowing him, he's gone to sulk by that rock out there." The mermaid pointed.

Gabriel squinted in that direction, and he thought that he could see said rock, but couldn't be sure. "Uh, where?"

Rolling his eyes, Ash reached up and with a cold and clammy hand, turned his head in the right direction. "There, dumbass. Better get him quick, it's going to storm harder than I've seen in awhile." He dropped his hand, and let go of the boat.

"Okay." Gabe turned to look at him, only to see that he was gone. The only indication Ash had even been there was the agitated water by the bow. "Thanks? I guess?"

He started the boat, navigating the covered and hidden rocks scattered around the sea floor, stacked up like pointy death Legos.

God, he was so mad for not bringing a freaking flashlight. Gabriel fumbled in his pocket, pulling out his phone and grimacing. He had 14% battery left. Disregarding that fact in honor of his actual safety, he flicked up the menu and tapped the flashlight button.

Sure enough, a sufficient(ish) light shone onto the water. 

Then, the rain started falling. It first started with an occasional droplet landing on Gabe's phone screen, or on his face. But when it started to come down with a vengeance, well that was when he started to worry. Soon enough, the flashlight wasn't illuminating the water, it was illuminating the rain.

He'd be completely honest. Gabriel was terrified. Especially when the waves started swelling, carrying the little boat over and up roughly. He barely had any battery or service for that matter, but he pulled up his family group chat and sent out what could possibly be his final text.

Gabriel: ily (12:42)

And as soon as the pale gray 'delivered' became visible, the screen went black. Hurray. His phone was now just as useful as a brick. 

He put it into his coat pocket and tried a different method.

"Sammy!" Gabriel yelled into the storm, the howling wind silencing his efforts. But he'd be damned if he let that stop him. "Sam! Sam, where are you?"

Suddenly the entire landscape was flooded in bright white as a bolt of lightning struck. The cloud cover practically glowed, and Gabriel swore he could hear the water sizzle. But a blessing in disguise was what it truly was. In the brief seconds of light, he saw the rock Ash had pointed him towards.

He swung the boat around and revved the engine as fast as it would go. The rain at this point was torrential. Gabriel was struggling to see anything with his hair sopping wet and completely in his eyes.

"Sammy! Please, Sammy, I love you!" He cried desperately, hoping to God the mermaid heard it.

Then finally, the thunder sounded. A rich, deep rumble that echoed throughout his bones.

"Please..." He whispered, more to himself than any other being who could possibly hear him. Hot tears streaked down his cheeks, mixing with the rain and becoming indescribable from the ocean or the rain.

He was almost to the rock, Gabe could see it looming in the distance when the engine cut off.

"No!" He scrambled towards the back of the boat and pulled the starter frantically. "Nonononono!" He unscrewed the gas cap, and peered into the tank, unable to tell how much gas was in it. He screwed it back on, and once again tried to start it, banging on the blower housing. Gabriel was trying absolutely everything he could think of. Of all the times for it to break, it was now.

"C'mon!" He screamed at it, shoulders thrown back, body jerking forward with every crash of the waves against the hull. The saltwater soaked into his jacket, leaving him both cold and desperate. "C'mon baby- you can do it!" He stuttered over his words, pulling the starter cord with everything he had.

With a massive squeal, the engine creaked to life. Pumping his fist in the air, Gabriel grinned from ear to ear. He swiped his hair back away from his face, with a few strands still plastered to his forehead. "Yes! Yes! I knew you could do it!"

The sky lit up again, but this time Gabe saw the bolt and not two seconds later, the thunder ripped out of the sky, deafeningly loud. The air crackled and every hair on his body stood up. The smell of ozone hung so heavy in the air that Gabriel could actually taste it.

He couldn't believe it but the rain seemed to get even harder, digging into his skin with every drop like a shard of ice.

The engine kept squealing, high pitched and nonstop. He was praying the little trooper would hang on. Gabriel was risking his life and turned all his willpower towards getting back to shore. He turned the boat around, and went parallel to the island, the waves pushing him closer and closer with every set of whitecaps.

He was trying to steer to his best ability, avoiding as many rocks as possible. And yet, without any light or guidance, he kept hitting them. Nothing too structurally damaging, he hoped. Gabriel was about to turn around a massive rock when he heard the loudest squeal yet, and then a pop. And after that, silence and the smell of smoke.

He whipped his head around to the engine and panicked at what he saw. The engine was smoking, and definitely not running. Gabriel almost started crying. This was it. This was the end.

He had so much more to give the world. It seemed cruel that this was how he died. Alone and heartbroken. 

As the biggest wave yet began to tip the boat, he scrambled to grab the undersized life vest, clutching onto it harder than he'd ever held onto anything before.

It seemed that wave was just the beginning of a set, as the newest one pushed them. Right into the rock. It splintered the boards of the boat, sending bits of painted white wood drifting through the turbulent water.

Gabriel had one arm through the life vest, and the other flung around the rock, the little crevices and bumps cutting into his fingers, and scraping his arms as the waves relentlessly battered him, weakening his hold bit by bit. He was struggling to keep his head above water, gasping for air as he realized that he was beginning to drown.

When another wave finally tore him away from his rock, and into the open water, he tried his best to swim to the top. As Gabriel tried to put the life vest around his neck, it was ripped from his hands by a cross wave. He screamed in terror, trying to swim after it, only to be sent tumulting under the water, and into the rocks that lined the seabed.

Gabriel swam up, just to be pushed back down. His lungs started burning for air, feeling like they were on fire. His body took control and inhaled. Gabe had never felt anything quite as terrible as a lungful of saltwater. He tried to breathe it out, but all that happened was that he just exchanged that water for a different lungful. 

He choked, and just drifted through the water, limp and unable to move. Gabriel watched as the corners of his eyes went black and fuzzy, finally taking over his vision entirely. But strangely enough, he thought he saw Sam's face. Fitting, that the last thing he thought he saw would be him.

I love you, Sammy. Now and forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm building myself a bunker to hide from you people. But I'm totally not sorry.


	10. Chapter 10

Turns out, heaven is a lot like a sopping wet beach. One where you're slowly freezing to death, and coughing up seawater. Although all things considered, none of that evidence actually pointed at Gabriel being dead. Actually, it was leaning strongly to the side with the fluorescent pink sign with bright white neon exclaiming, 'CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'RE ALIVE!'. That would be awesome as hell if he was alive, and not missing a limb (or two) due to sharks. 

Gabe tried to sit up, the dry sand flaking and sliding off him. He kept his eyes shut, feeling the sand caked into the creases. Using his hands, and crawling towards the ocean, he got deep enough to dunk his head, scrubbing the sand off his face. Gabriel tried to stay as relaxed and calm as possible to get rid of all of it.

He stood straight up, popping some poor lumbar vertebrae back into place. Gabe used the heels of his palms to try to wick away any remaining water clinging to his eyes, before tentatively opening them.

The light was harsh and blinding, and he blinked a lot before his eyes adjusted. Bit by bit he figured out where he was, head spinning. Gabriel was 92.7% sure that he had a concussion or something along those lines. God, his head hurt.

He glanced around. Trees, sand, hermit crabs, seagulls, Sam, tide pools, pointy rocks- wait a second, Sam? That couldn't be right, no way. He looked back in the direction he thought he saw the mermaid, frowning when he didn't see anything there.

"Ughhhh...." A low, gravelly voice groaned out. From Gabriel's other side of course. He turned his entire body, holding his head with a tentative hand.

And sure enough, draped over, and partially in the tide pools was Sam. 

"Sammy?" He called, stumbling over to the mermaid, limping. Gabe looked down at his leg and grimaced. His thigh looked swollen, and he was covered in cuts and bruises.

"Gabe? Oh- fuck-" Sam gasped, shifting to reveal a massive, gaping gash in his tail. The scales were pine-coning around it, and chipped away, revealing irritated and pink flesh.

"Shit- Sammy!" He gritted his teeth and jogged over, ignoring the bolts of pain shooting up his leg. One of his shoes was missing. Weird.

Sam flopped back onto the rock, panting and looking pale. "I don't know how long it's been bleeding." He whispered to Gabriel once he was close enough. "Oh god, what if I die? Gabe, I don't want to die."

"You're not going to die, Sammy, I swear that you're not going to die." He slung the mermaid's arm around his shoulder and grabbed under his armpit. He heaved him out of the tide pools, and into the water, causing Sam to hiss in pain.

"Gabe! Haven't you ever heard, don't put salt on an open wound? Oh my god!"

"I'm sorry man, but have you seen my arms? I can't bridal carry you to shore. Hell, I don't know how well I'll be able to drag you."

"Like hell, you'll be dragging me. I may be possibly mortally wounded, but I'll be damned if I let you drag me to my death bed." Sam growled at him, propping himself up on his hands.

"Okay, okay!" Gabriel threw his hands up in defense. "Fuck, we've got to get you a doctor."

Sam burst out into startled laughter. "What? L-like, any doctor will operate on a mermaid."

Gabriel helped him onto the beach and peeled off his ruined jacket, and wrapping it around the wound. Like a makeshift tourniquet. "Put pressure on that." 

 

"Okay, okay." Sam pushed down on the wound with it. "Hey- what's this?" He reached into the left pocket and pulled out the little black box.

Gabriel gasped and quickly snatched it from his hands. "Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

"Bullshit. What is that Gabe?" The mermaid narrowed his eyes at him. "Tell me."

"What? No!" He protested, pulling it closer towards his chest and twisting away from Sam, effectively shielding it from his prying eyes.

"Gabriel, tell me. As my dying wish, I want to know what the fuck is in the box." Sam growled at him. Legit growled. Seriously, what the hell?

"You're not gonna die Sammich." He said, rolling his eyes as a defense mechanism.

"How do you know that? Huh? Just tell me what's in it!" Sam reached for the box.

Gabriel squeaked in protest and held it higher above his head. "No! Sammy!"

The mermaid scowled and sat up quickly, using his height to his advantage. He yanked it out of Gabriel's hands harshly. Sam smirked at him, in some sort of sadistic triumph. He lifted the lid of the box up, recoiling in shock. Sam looked at Gabe, a mixture of bewilderment and utter confusion.

"Uh, what?" He stammered, glancing back down at the box, and then to Gabriel.

Gabe had tried to choose the prettiest ring, it was an almost matte gray kind of silver, with a single square diamond embedded in the middle. Both a tiny sapphire and emerald were sitting off-center on it, like a sparkling crown.

"It looked like your tail." He muttered, looking at the sand, hoping it would muffle his voice.

"Gabe... It's gorgeous." Sam said reverently, lifting it out of the (fairly wet) black foam it was pressed into. "Is it... Is it for me?"

"Of course you moron. Who else would it be for? Dean?" Gabriel rolled his eyes, snarking at the mermaid.

The brunette glared at him. "I'm trying to have a moment here. Don't get all defensive."

"You're ruining the moment even more! I was gonna have a whole speech, and confess my absolute and undying love for you!" Gabe complained, crossing his arms and huffing like a four-year old whose mother just told him he couldn't have the candy from the grocery store checkout aisle. "But I totally forgot all of it. 'Cept for the part where I tell you how much I love you. It's a lot, by the way."

"Dude, shut up." Sam leaned towards, grabbing a fistful of the front of his shirt, pulling him into a rough, angry kiss.

Gabriel struggled a little, trying to get some semblance of control back. Eventually, he gave up and just melted into it, flinging his arms around Sam's shoulders, clasping his hands loosely behind the mermaid's neck.

Sam let out a gentle breath, kissing Gabriel a little softer, with an open mouth. For a guy who probably had never touched Chapstick in his life, Sam had some unreasonably soft lips. Lucky son of a bitch. Gabe's lips felt so chapped that he kind of felt bad that Sam was having to kiss him. He quickly forgot about that as soon as the brunette tried to work his tongue in.

Goddamn, if that wasn't really hot. Sam's and his tongue wrestled for dominance for a few seconds before it became clear that Sam was definitely going to win. 

 

One of Sam's hands came up from where it was grasping his shirt to cup his jaw, his thumb stroking against the stubble. The gentle and tender touch was polarized to the heated make out session they currently had going on. Not that Gabriel minded. He didn't mind one bit, it was just that eventually his, quote unquote 'biological need to breathe' kicked in. As soon as pulled away, he totally regretted it.

"Shit..." Sam gasped out, breathing heavily, running a hand through his hair absentmindedly. "I'm seeing stars. But to be honest, I'm not sure if that's because of that kiss, or the blood loss."

Gabriel grimaced. "Right. You're bleeding. Horribly. Okay, no more kissing until you're stable."

"God, you are such a buzzkill. Here I am, kissing you after you fumbled a sort of proposal, and all you can think about is my impending death. Jeez." Sam groaned, looking up at the cloudy gray sky in exasperation.

"Impending, impending death is the key word." Gabriel crossed his arms. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm trying to save your life here, you asshole."

"Wow. How sweet you are." Sam snorted, rolling his eyes, but with a subdued grin.

"But yeah. I want to marry you."

"Why the sudden change in plans? Last I remember, you were absolutely horrified by just the idea of marrying me." The brunette leveled him with a stare that was Jo levels of dangerous.

"Well, to be completely honest? It took me about six bottles of tequila and half a bottle of whiskey before Jo and Charlie came to make me leave the room. Then they knocked plenty of sense into me. To top it all off, I went down to the roadhouse and your brother threatened my life if I didn't come to a decisive conclusion on exactly what I was going to do." Gabriel sighed, fully admitting to the fact that it wasn't exactly 100% his idea.

"Wow, good to know that my big bro actually has my best interests in mind. That's weird, he's a total jerk sometimes." Sam chuckled, wincing when the movement jostled his tail, a fresh drop of blood streaking down his tail. Dried blood was caked in between scales, and was flaking off on top of them. "Gabe, do you have any idea what time it is?" 

"Hang on a sec, I'll just check... My phone. Oh goddamnit." Gabriel slumped over, burying his head in his heads. "I'm an idiot." He said voice muffled.

"... It was in your pocket, wasn't it?" Sam bit his lip, fighting back laughter. Laughing would be so rude. But fuck, if he didn't want to something fierce.

"Uh huh. I was using it as a flashlight until it died, and then I crashed into that rock. It's probably way beyond repair by just putting it in a bag of rice." He groaned, looking up at Sam, obviously distressed. "That had all my contacts in it. I don't know anybody's number anymore, hell I don't remember my own number, for Christ's sake!"

Sam covered his mouth with his hand. "Can't help you there buddy."

Gabriel glared at him. "Maybe a little sympathy might be nice!"

"Really not in my nature. Secretly I'm a cold hearted bastard who just really likes puppies, and like, two other people." Sam smiled wryly.

"Am I one of the two?" Gabe grinned impishly at him.

"Of course you moron." Sam huffed, swatting the blonde's arm playfully.

"Okay, but seriously, why are we making small talk, when you are in fact, actually bleeding out," Gabe shouted. Not at anyone in particular, really, but just kind of in general.

"Because I'm going to die anyways. Might as well make my last few hours enjoyable." Sam shrugged one shoulder. "Nobody's going to treat a mermaid."

Gabriel looked down at the beach, absolutely crestfallen. His eyes drifted to his chest, where surprisingly enough, Sam's ring still hung around his neck. He stared at it a second, frowning as he tried to remember the reason why it was so important, as his head throbbed, hindering the process. It finally clicked, and he shot up onto his feet like a rocket.

Sam's eyes snapped up to him, looking confused. "What? What is it, Gabe?"

"You said that mermaid's get their legs when they marry a human, right?" He said excitedly.

Sam's face drew into tight lines, his brow furrowed and his lips pursed as he thought hard, despite his fuzzy mind. "Yeah...?"

"Well, I want to marry you, you want to marry me, a doctor won't treat you with a tail, the problem solves itself!" He said, practically vibrating with enthusiasm.

Sam's eyebrows shot up, his eyes opening far wider than usual as he had the same revelation Gabriel had just a few seconds ago. "Oh! Oh shit, you're totally right! Oh my god, if we both hadn't been varying degrees of concussed and injured, I bet we would've figured that out in the first minute!"

Gabriel sat back down uncoordinatedly, sending sand up in a short little puff. "Okay, okay. So. How do we do this? Do I need to go on a quest for the egg of a silverback fire breathing horned dragon, and a unicorn tail?" He asked, a hyper lilt to his voice. He was jittery and nervous, deflecting with humor. "Because that would be some awesome dungeons and dragons type shit."

Sam cocked an eyebrow at him, obviously unimpressed. "Dragons aren't real, dipshit." 

"Hey! A month ago I wouldn't have even said mermaids were real. Like, ever. That'd make me look like a complete five-year-old." Gabe threw back at him, huffing a little.

"Well- I wouldn't have- I- oh never mind," Sam grumbled, aborting his attempt at some sort of comeback. "But anyway, the whole marriage thing isn't nearly as complicated as you think it's going to be." 

"Well, if it's not that complicated, then why don't you just explain it already?" 

"You're impatient, aren't you?"

"You're bleeding out as we speak!"

"Touché." Sam pointed at him, dipping his head in acknowledgment. "Well, really all you need is two people, mermaids, whatever. Uh... Seaweed I think, and significant rocks." When he saw Gabriel's look of confusion, he proceeded to explain. "Look, old traditions and all that. I mean, it's like how you guys use rings. And technically, since gems, like diamonds, are rocks, we can just use the rings we already have-" Sam finished his sentence with a sharp inhalation, as his vision blurred a little. "Shit, we gotta do this quick Gabe. I'm gonna pass out soon."

"Okay, okay, um seaweed. Does it have to be anything specific?" Gabriel scrambled to get up, standing awkwardly to keep weight off his bad leg. He scanned the beach for any type of seaweed.

"No, just, I don't know, try and find some kelp, or really just anything." Sam gritted out, wincing a little. "Look by the tide pools, stuff usually washes up and gets stuck over there."

He nodded, limping across the cove towards the rocks. Gabriel stuck his arms out for balance as he carefully picked a path through them. Squinting into the little pools, all he saw was sea urchins and green anemones.  "C'mon seaweed, you always show up when you're the biggest nuisance, and now that I need you? Absolutely nowhere." He muttered, almost stepping into one of the deeper ones, when the rock he was standing on began to wobble. Gabe pinwheeled his arms frantically, as he stood on one foot that was shaking as it tried to support his body. He regained his balance, as he was just about to fall into the water.

Gabriel heard Sam call out to him from the beach. Something along the lines of, "hey, you alright?" He turned to face the mermaid, shooting him the biggest grin he could muster, as well as two thumbs up. He was pretty sure the mermaid smiled back and gave him the 'ok' hand sign.

He turned back to the rocks, his frown getting deeper the longer he searched. "I've got to be missing something." He muttered, curling the toes of his sockless foot around the edge of a tide pool as he leaned over, stepping wide with his shoe. "Seaweed, seaweeeeeeed come out, come out, wherever you are!" He sing-songed. Wasn't going to work of course, who was he kidding? (Himself, it was himself.) Gabriel stuck his bottom lip out to the side, letting out an exasperated puff of air. He leaned more to the left to grab the rock closest to him, so he could get his other foot parallel. As he stood up gingerly, out of the corner of his eye he saw something green and floating.

He beamed, and scrambled over to it, probably a little carelessly. Score! He reached into the pool, pulling up what was probably a seven-inch segment of kelp. He wrinkled his nose a little at the smell and the texture of the yellowish brownish greenish leaves. He checked for any stowaway critters, finding a solitary hermit crab, and placing it back in the water, atop a little patch of red algae.

Gabe actually managed to get back to the beach, and Sam, without injuring himself. He should probably call the Guinness book of world records. He held it above his head triumphantly for Sam to see, as he jogged over to the mermaid.

Gabriel collapsed on the beach next to him, his leg finally giving out. "Okay- now what?"

Sam smiled weakly, picking the seaweed up clumsily. "Gimme your, ow fuck, gimme your hands." He clutched it tightly in one hand. The sand digging into his palm. Sam laid his palms out flat in between him and Gabe.

Picking up the cue, and frowning at the wound that did not seem to be getting better on Sam, Gabriel set his hands on top of the brunette's. "Right. Got it."

Sam laced their fingers of their right hands together. With his left, he wound the kelp around it tightly. "You've got my ring, right?"

"Yeah," Gabriel pulled the string up, dragging the ring out from in his shirt. "got it right here."

"Good, good." Sam winced again, his tail tapping anxiously against the sand, like a child kicking their feet when they got called into the principal's office, with no clue of what they'd done. "Put it in your left hand." While he waited for Gabriel to do that, he grabbed the ring box and tucked it between his chin and right shoulder. Eventually, he maneuvered it to the point where he could pull the ring out of the box, letting the little velvet cube fall to the ground without any grace. 

Sam clutched the ring, smiling down at Gabe, who was doing the same thing. "Alright, just... Repeat after me." The mermaid took a deep breath and began reciting from memory. "I, Samuel Henry Winchester, promise to love, cherish, and honor this human for eternity."

"I say my name, right?" Gabriel interjected. "I don't have to say your name, yeah?"

Sam gave him Bitchface™ #347. "Not a time for jokes, Gabe."

 

"Okay, okay!" He lifted his chin and blew a raspberry. "Uh, I, Gabriel Richard Novak, promise to love, er- cherish, and honor this mermaid-man-guy. But like, for forever and all that."

"Okay, now we switch rings." Sam murmured to him, passing Gabriel the silver band, while he took the gold one, still strung onto the cord.

"Once again, repeat after me." He coughed. "With this stone, I pledge my devotion and love to you. Our hands, bound in the sea, our fingers graced by the earth."

Gabriel furrowed his brows, trying to remember all the words. "With this rock- sorry, stone. With this stone, I pledge my devotion and love to you. Our hands.... Um, oh! Bound in the sea, our fingers graced by the earth." He beamed when he finished.

Sam chuckled softly, before slipping the ring onto Gabriel's finger. "I love you."

Gabe winked up at him as he slipped his band onto the mermaids ring finger. "Love you too, Sammy."

The brunette took his hand and set them both on their seaweed wrapped hands. "Alright, now kiss me." 

"Pushy, aren't ya?" Gabriel teased, leaning in to capture Sam's lips in a tender and gentle kiss. Nothing at all like the one they had earlier. This one, it was all soft, gooey, mushy, and feeling-y. Probably sappy enough to justify a spot on the hallmark channel Christmas movies. But God, if it wasn't the most complete, and serene moments in Gabriel's life. Here he was, sealing his own freakin' marriage with the love of his life, who just also happened to be a mermaid. One who was still dying. Fuck.

He pulled away, letting out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding in. "Now what?" Gabriel asked.

"Honestly?" The mermaid gave a nervous chuckle. "I have no idea."

"Great. Greeeeaat." He groaned. "So, we just cross our fingers and hope for the best?"

"Yeah. And pray to God or whatever that I don't bleed out first."

"Y'know," Gabriel glanced over at Sam "your negative nancy comments have put quite the damper on our wedding day."

Sam stuck his tongue out at him, and laid on his back, looking up at the sky. "Well, I love you too sweetie!" He talked to his palm. "Sure Gabriel! I'd love to make out right now! You definitely haven't upset me."

"Ooh, I'm so mortified!" Gabriel rolled his eyes. "I've been replaced by a hand."

"Well, the hand isn't a jerk. On our wedding day." Sam shot his words back at him, a smug smile on his face.

He huffed, and turned his back on Sam, throwing a mock hissy-fit.

"Ack- my scales itch," Sam muttered, sitting up to scratch at his tail. His eyebrows were probably at his hairline with how high he raised them. "That. That was fast."

"What was-" Gabriel swung himself around to look, jaw dropping. "-Oh shit!"

Sam had legs. Good ol' fashioned, long... Long... Long legs. Gabriel was doing his best not to stare at Sam's crotch, but... Hey, they were married now, right? And it was by no means a disappointing sight. He should have guessed from Sam's hands, because damn. Just. Damn.

"That's weird. Oh god, I can wiggle my toes!" Sam said in awe, voice probably two octaves higher than normal. "And hey! Only one of my legs is bleeding!"

 

"Yeah, that's all great and all babe, but, uh, why don't I lend you my boxers so we can both limp our way into town, yeah? No need to scar any children. Or elders. Or just, people in general." Gabriel was pointedly looking up at the sky.

Sam frowned, and then looked at his lap, laughing in surprise. "Oh hell yeah! I'm hung!"

"Dude, time and a place?" He pleaded, quickly stripping off his (still damp) jeans and boxers, passing the latter to Sam. Gabe pulled on the jeans, grimacing at the feeling. Ugh, wet denim on bare skin? Recipe for disaster and chafing.

Sam stood up, unsteady, and quickly fell over, barely catching himself from falling onto his face. He sighed, and shook the sand off Gabriel's boxers, and awkwardly pulled them on. "Now I understand why Jo wears a swimsuit before she gets in the water. No awkward changing required."

"You good Samsquatch?" He asked, limping over, and helping the brunette up. And then became crestfallen, because goddamnit. Sam was fucking ginormous. Like, seven foot nine or some shit. Not even remotely fair.

"Yeah. Yeah. Little unsure on this whole, uh, balance thing, but I'll figure it out." He gave a strained grin. "Eventually." 

Gabe leaned down and picked up the jacket, tying it securely around Sam's leg. "Okay buddy, hang onto me, I'm like, 92% sure we'll make it to town a-okay."

"Reassuring." Sam drawled sarcastically but wrapping his arm around him tightly.

Gabriel looked up the beach and grimaced as he saw the mouth of the trail, that led deep into the forest. What (or who) he wouldn't do for a bottle of water. Or whiskey. Both. Yeah, both.

 

\-----

 

"Gabe! Gabe!" Somebody's voice yelled right in his ear. He opened his eyes up slowly, his brain trying to drip its way out through his ears. Everything was too bright and too fuzzy.

"Wha- where 'm I?" He croaked out, closing his eyes again, the strain too much for him. His throat felt like he'd just crawled through the Sahara desert, and then been face-fucked by a herd of rhinos.

"It's Jo, you ass. You're back in town, with a severe concussion. Possibly even internal hemorrhaging. Not to mention you practically ripped apart your quad muscles in your leg. How the fuck did you manage to walk all the way here without passing out before?" Somebody, who apparently was Jo, yelled at him. God, his eardrums were going to start bleeding.

"... 's Sammy okay?" He murmured, feeling himself drift back towards unconsciousness.

"Well," She seemed to hesitate. "he's breathing..."

Gabriel couldn't even panic before the darkness swallowed him back up.

 

\-----

 

He started choking as soon as he became aware of his surroundings. Something was stuffed down his throat, and not in the sexy way. The 'gotta force air into you because your epiglottis isn't cooperating' kind of way.

Gabriel had been in this position all of two times in his life before. The first was because he got trapped in his dorm room when a fire started, and the smoke made its way into his lungs with a vengeance. The second time was when he had an ex-girlfriend who got pissed at him when she thought he was cheating (he wasn't) and beat him within an inch of his life. Both times very unpleasant, but had taught him the only way not to throw your body into panicky overdrive was to relax your throat completely, and suppress your gag reflex. Not that he really had one anymore anyways, if you caught his drift. If you didn't catch his drift, it was sex. Lots and lots of sex, involving things down his throat. Long, hard, thick things. Like trying to swallow his self-loathing. (He was joking, it was cock, don't worry.)

Mild crisis averted and all that, Gabe scanned the room for any sort of call button, finding one on a tv sized remote that was strategically placed on the rolling bedside table next to him. He started painstakingly lifting his arm to push it. 

The room was nothing special in the slightest, drab gray walls, with a white popcorn ceiling. The bed he was on was one of those roll out cot type things that were in the ER wing usually. There was a picture of a lush hillside hung up next to the door, framed in a glossy silver plasticine frame. Other than the dim and flickering fluorescent light above him, and the amber glow from the crack under the door, there was no other light source. 

Gabriel had never been a patient man and pressed the call button again.

A nurse in pastel green scrub pants and a well-worn batman t-shirt stuck his head in. "Oh! You're awake." The man exclaimed, stepping in and removing the oxygen tube with a practiced ease. He adjusted the drip on the IV, squinting at the vitals that were displayed on the iPad sized monitor. He nodded and jotted them down.

"Where am I?" He croaked out, swallowing excessively to try and coat his parched throat with a layer of saliva.

"You're in St. Charles Regional hospital. Catalina island still." The nurse smiled. Gabriel took a moment to find his name tag. The guy's name was Chad. Fucking Chad. "Do you think you can sit up?"

Gabriel grimaced but managed to haul himself up, inhaling sharply. "Don't suppose you've seen a tall, super hot, brunette around have you?"

Chad blinked. "Uh, the guy who came in with you from Avalon?"

"Yeah- that's the one." Gabriel snapped his fingers and winced when a twinge shot up his arm. "Could you turn the lights up pal?"

The nurse's eyes shot up towards the flickering light, and his features twisted into an awkward smile. "Sorry, you've been out for ten hours with a serious concussion, you were touch and go for a while there. I can either turn the light all the way off, and leave open the door, or we can keep it at this level."

"Just turn 'em off then," Gabriel grumbled, rubbing his temples with one hand. "But about Sam, er- the other guy. What's his condition?"

Chad walked over to the light switch flipping it off and letting the heavy metal door creak all the way open. "He's currently stable. He had a heavy blood transfusion, after all, he lost almost a liter and a half of blood." When he saw the look of confusion on Gabe's face, he took the time to clarify. "30% of his total volume. A freakin' ton of blood. That's all I can tell you at the moment without consent from the other patient, legal reasons and all." 

 

"Shit. Has he woken up at all?" He muttered, glancing up at the IV tree, some clear bags were hung on it, and the one that was about half full was connected to the needle taped to his arm. "And what the hell are you pumping into my body?"

The nurse closed his eyes briefly, but long enough to get across his exasperation. "Currently? An antibiotic as a preemptive measure. Normally you're on a saline the other three times a day for dehydration."

"Speaking of which," Gabriel coughed roughly "what the fuck does a guy have to do to get a glass of water around here?" 

"I'll go grab you one real quick, and then I need to take your blood pressure," Chad said cheerfully, moving his shoulders straight back as he stopped stooping over Gabriel's bed. 

The comedian raised his eyebrows and gingerly pointed at the monitor mounted on the wall. "Doesn't that do it for you already?"

"No," he clipped the clip board on the end of the bed, pointing the finger shaped tape with a cord coming out from it. "What that's currently showing is your heart rate and oxygen levels. Your CO2 when we ran the blood work was normal, as is the rest of your vitals. But blood pressure is what's a little iffy with your case. You've been dropping every few hours so far. Once even 78 over 56."

"Is that bad?"

"I'll give you this, 120 to 130 over 60 or 70 is average for your age and weight. So yeah, little bit bad." The nurse shrugged. "I'll be right back out with your water."

Gabriel groaned, and let his head fall back onto the pillow.

 

\-----

 

Three days later, they finally let him out of that god forsaken room. To meet with the physical therapist, naturally.

"Look." Pamela ("but call me Pam") glared at him. "You destroyed your quadricep, and it's not going to magically fix itself by the power of sheer will alone. So do your damn exercises, or I'll put you in a wheelchair permanently."

"Yeah right, you couldn't even see me to do that, much less be able to get me into a wheelchair." He muttered under his breath, stretching, despite his legs screaming protests at him.

Pam smacked the back of his head. "I'm blind, not deaf you moron!"

"Ow! How dare you! I am an invalid ma'am! I cannot believe you would abuse me like this!" He gasped, in one of his higher pitched falsettos.

"Get back to your damn stretches Chuckles."

 

\-----

 

Meals were always served in the rooms, on those little rolly tray things. Currently, he had the pleasure of picking through something that claimed to be Shepard's pie, but he was rather suspicious of it. He flagged down his dayshift nurse, grinning at her as he attempted to persuade her to get him an extra pudding cup to help him choke down his lunch.

 

It was (hopefully) Gabriel's last day in the hospital, seeing as he had been cleared by the brain doctors and all.

Once he got that extra pudding and scarfed down his almost palatable meal, he got up. Seeing as he was allowed to roam around, he liked to wander. After tying the damn hospital gown as tightly around him as he could. No one really needed to see his ass hanging out on full display. Except maybe Sam. He'd be totally fine with Sam seeing that.

The hallways were a strange mix of fluorescent and LED lights. There were maybe eleven wings in the whole hospital, the floor plan wasn't huge, but there were three stories. He'd been to nine wings so far and was still holding out hope to run into Sam.

He just didn't expect to actually run into Sam. 

Look, it was 110% not his fault. Gabriel just wanted to walk, not have Pamela Barnes chasing after him because he was favoring his leg. So he broke out into a run, looking over his shoulder for the blind woman as he slammed into a wall of flesh, and promptly fell flat on his ass.

"Gabe?" Someone asked from above him, before they leaned over him, long brown locks falling into the familiar face.

Gabriel lit up like a kid on Christmas. "Sammy! Heya kiddo!" He scrambled to his feet and wrapped the mermaid (merhuman now?) in a massive hug. Even if his arms couldn't touch each other as they were stretched around the man. "Good to see ya." He mumbled into his chest.

Sam smiled softly, fond amusement dancing in his eyes. "This wasn't quite how I imagined our honeymoon going." Nonetheless wrapping his arms around Gabe, protectively almost.

"You and me both." The comedian snorted. "I wanted more margaritas and fewer IV needles."

"I would actually murder someone for one of Ellen's hamburgers and a cold beer right now." Sam laughed, letting his boyfriend- no, husband- go.

Gabe stepped back, grinning. "Well if they discharge me today, I'll bring you one as soon as possible. Can't bring you alcohol though."

"Damn," Sam grumbled, not as annoyed as he was pretending to be. "How will I ever cope." He drawled tonelessly. 

"You could kiss me." Gabe waggled his eyebrows in a way he hoped was seductive, but probably just made him look ridiculous. "I hear my lips can make people feel love drunk."

Sam smirked and leaned down to cup his face. He pressed a quick, chaste, kiss to Gabriel's lips, and then pulled away.

The comedian huffed and grabbed at the collar of the taller man's scrubs. "Don't be a prude Sammich." He had just about pulled him down for what was bound to be a hot and filthy kiss when he heard someone yelling his name.

"NOVAK! YOU HAVE PT RIGHT NOW YOU CONNIVING, SLIMY, BASTARD!"

He grimaced against Sam's lips, his nose and forehead scrunching up. "That's my physical therapist. I should probably go."

"To therapy?" Sam raised an eyebrow. Pretty unlike Gabe to give in that easily.

Gabriel grinned wildly, amber eyes flashing mischievously. "God, of course not. Try and throw her off my scent will you? I swear, for a blind chick, she's practically psychic." He pressed a quick kiss to Sam's cheek, before taking off sprinting down the hall. He made quite the sight, pea soup green dressing gown paired with seafoam hospital issue socks. The ones with the sticky bits all along them for grip. 

Sam rolled his eyes and continued carefully walking down the hall, trying to figure out the whole 'balancing' thing. It would've been hard enough to do with two healthy legs, but with a bandaged and injured one? Especially one sealed with crazy thin stitches? That, well that was a whole 'nother ballpark. He reached down and adjusted the white bandages wrapped around his leg, pressing tentatively on the pads of gauze. At least he was healing.   

He couldn't really suppress his grin as he saw a brunette wearing sunglasses indoors stalk by, furious and clearly booking it as fast as hospital standards allowed. Pamela was his PT too, so he knew how hard she pushed. Poor Gabe, by not conceding defeat, he practically signed his doom.

 

\-----

 

"Fresh air! Hallelujah, there is a God!" Gabe crowed victoriously as he stepped outside the sliding glass doors out of the hospital, throwing his arms up in a V for victory.

Sam rolled his eyes good naturedly. He had just been discharged, Gabriel had stayed the extra day right by his side, sweetheart that he was. Now they were standing around, waiting for Dean to come and pick them up. 

When Gabe's hands dropped back down and found themselves intertwined with Sam's, he looked up at him and grinned. 

"I, am completely and utterly in love with you." The blonde said to him, an air of finality around the words.

"Good." Sam kissed the top of his head, before straightening back up. "I wouldn't have it any other way."


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is porn.
> 
> just... it's just porn
> 
> so, if you're uncomfy, just wait till next week, ta?

"Goooood morning Samshine!" Gabriel crowed, as the alarm on the bedside table began blaring out the first few bars of Asia's 'heat of the moment' before Sam promptly and angrily smacked his hand on the snooze.

"No. 'M too tired, fuck off." He grumbled, sticking his face back into the pillow.

"Sammy! You're being so mean!" Gabriel gasped, crossing his arms at his husband.

The brunette just reached over, and patted Gabe's knee, humming his assent.

They were currently staying in one of the larger hotel rooms. Not a suite or anything, but not a shoebox either. It was mid-November, and Gabriel hadn't had it in him to leave the island after the CICRR program ended. As it was, neither could Charlie. Lucky for her, game development wasn't a stationary or demanding job. So she moved in with Jo, and they were sickeningly cute. Sam's aunt and uncle, Ellen and Bobby had insisted on them staying in the hotel, rent free. Gabriel certainly wasn't complaining, and neither was his bank account. 

But today was the day he was headed out to Sacramento for his first show of the new tour. Aptly named My girlfriend dumped me, and an Island tried to kill me. (Okay, that was what he called it, the agency refused the title, so he grudgingly settled for So she dumped me. Bastards, the lot of them. Not a fun bone in their crotchety old bodies.) Sam still hadn't wavered on wanting to come with him, but Gabriel was still apprehensive. What if he hated all of it, and in return, hated Gabe? 

Nah. And hey, nobody could hate someone after they got an early morning blowjob, right? So, Gabriel slipped back under the covers and crawled (un)gracefully between Sam's legs.

"Nn- wha? Gaaaabe." His husband groaned, lifting up the crisp white linen sheet, and gazing groggily at him, wiping the sleep out of his eyes with the other hand.

"Shh." He reached up and put a finger over the taller man's lips, before dropping his hands to the elastic waistband of Sam's flannel pajama bottoms and tugging them down past his hips. 

There would probably never be a day when Gabriel wasn't impressed by his partner's equipment. And he had a deep appreciation and understanding of it. Deep because it was fucking massive, and that's what it was when it was inside him. Duh. And by it, he totally meant Sam's monster cock. The thing was like, nine inches. Pornstar size, if you caught his drift.

Sam sighed a little bit at the cold air, goosebumps rippling along his thighs, hairs standing up at the chill. He gently threaded his hands through Gabe's hair, absent mindedly combing it with his fingers. "You gonna do anything, or you gonna stare at it all morning?"

Gabriel stuck his tongue out at him, but took Sam's cock in hand, smirking a little bit as it twitched in interest. "Not even half mast? Don't you ever get morning wood?" He ran his thumb over the tip, tugging back the foreskin to reveal the head. Gabe dipped his head down, pressing a feather light kiss onto it.

Sam groaned, shoving the sheets to the side with his feet. "I'd have it more frequently if someone didn't keep me in a constant state of well fucked. Or wake me up like this without even giving me a chance."

"Are you complaining?" Gabriel raised his eyebrows, loosely fisting Sam as he spoke. "Because I'll stop if you are."

"No! No," Sam interjected quickly "I'm just saying that my libido barely keeps up with a man who's just about ten years my senior." He let out a little breathy gasp as Gabriel started to place little kisses along his cock, unconsciously bucking his hips up.

"Mm," Gabe smirked, in less than a minute Sam had gone from limp to fully erect, and Gabriel wasn't gonna lie. He knew he had skills, but it sure as hell was satisfying to see it in practice. Looking up, he met his gaze. "Should I buy you some viagra?"

"God, you're an asshole, you know that?" Sam grumbled. "And a tease too."

"I am, and I'm proud of it. Now shut up so I can suck your dick instead of replying to you." The blonde retorted, before taking him in his mouth, humming at the nice weight that settled on his tongue, as well as the fairly unique taste of cock. Cause, like, in his experience dicks were fairly uniform in taste. Little bit musky, the flavor of warmth (it's hard to explain, okay?) and that little salty tang that skin just has anyways. But every person he's had down his throat all were unique. There was something weird about it that he couldn't put his finger (or tongue) on, that made everyone's different.

No complaints though. Just made it a unique experience with every partner. Though techniques were fairly standard. Currently, Gabriel had his hand wrapped around the base of Sam's cock, bobbing his head up and down, not even touching the back of his mouth yet. What he didn't have in his mouth he was slowly, and leisurely jerking off.

Sam's pupils were blown with lust, his breathing getting heavier. "Fuck, your mouth is amazing." He had fisted his hands into the bed, to keep from just pushing Gabriel all the way down. It wasn't that Sam was worried about choking his husband, seeing as he didn't have a gag reflex. No, he kept from it because he knew Gabe was setting a slow pace on purpose, so there was no point in not just laying back and enjoying it.

Gabriel hummed his agreement, sending shivers up Sam's spine before he started taking him a little deeper.

Once he had a good rhythm going, Gabe started going for gold and began to deepthroat the brunette. He hummed around him when he nosed against the dark curls at the base.

"Oh my God-" Sam panted, unable to control himself, tangling his fingers in the shorter man's hair, tugging eagerly.

Gabriel pulled off, grinning cockily. "No need dear, you can just call me Gabriel. But God works too if you like."

"Shut up," Sam muttered, pulling him up a little roughly, for a quick but deep kiss. It was so goddamn hot to be able to taste himself on Gabe's tongue.

"You like me mouthy, don't deny it." 

"It's far more enjoyable to then flip you over, and fuck the mouthiness out of you," Sam growled in his ear, tugging the smaller man up into his lap, his cock nestled snuggly next to the crack of Gabe's ass.

Gabriel let out the softest whine, letting his head fall back a little bit at the picture it painted. "That sounds... That sounds real good Sammich."

"Then if you would be amenable," Sam took the opportunity to squeeze his ass. "I would like you to get on your hands and knees while I go grab the lube and condoms."

"But I thought they were on the nightstand?" Gabriel asked, confused, as he slid off his lap and onto the bed, rock hard in his boxers.

"No, you insisted we have shower sex last night, and we left them there. Remember?" He snorted, walking to the little offset bathroom a little awkwardly. As he moved away, he could feel Gabriel's gaze trained on his ass, so he might've swayed his hips a bit more. Maybe.

 

When he came back, he saw Gabe, right where he had asked him to be, neck craned back, with a fond smile on his face, boxers flung carelessly across the room.

"What? What is it?" He laughed, kissing his cheek, setting down the little bottle of Astroglide and the strip of condoms.

"Remember our first time?" Gabriel grinned at him, leaning against his lips.

"Mm, vividly. What was it you said? Something about bad erotica."

"After you asked if we could have sex then." The blondes face lit up. "I told you that unless you wanted shit all over your dick and your fingers, we'd have to wait. You looked so baffled that I had to explain to you how life wasn't like a bad erotica, and anal took a lot of work."

He barked out a sharp laugh, tearing off one of the plastic packets, pushing the rest off the side of the bed. "Ain't that the truth. I'm so glad you like bottoming. One enema was enough to turn me off being on the receiving side of anal forever."

"Mm. True, and eating nothing but rice and salad sucks big time. I'm sure if I tried more than a week like that, I'd spontaneously combust." Gabe snickered, pushing his ass up a little as he heard the uncapping of a bottle.

"I think that would make me very upset." Sam squirted a liberal amount of lube over his fingers, rubbing it back and forth to warm it up. "But, I do quite enjoy the idea of fucking you for an entire week."

"Hey, pal-" Gabriel gasped as he felt the pad of Sam's index finger press against his hole, but continued on shakily. "- we could do that, you'd just have some gross, and stinky dick and fingers. The sex, well, I guess it'd be... Shitty." To say the least, Gabriel wasn't surprised in the slightest when he heard Sam groan, followed by the rest of his finger slipping into him. "Oh!"

"Well, it's just that much more of a treat when it happens." Sam murmured, leaning over his back, and kissing behind his ears. "Especially morning sex. I'm very happy that we decided to fool around last night. Makes this much nicer, and much more sanitary."

"I dunno about that," Gabriel said breathily as Sam got another finger in him, and started gently scissoring him. "Your fingers are in my ass. Not much  is sanitary about that."

"I don't know how I keep forgetting just how cheeky you are. Maybe I'm not fucking you hard enough." Sam hummed, sitting back on his heels, biting the curve of Gabriel's ass, as he slowly managed to get a third, then forth finger in, rocking and twisting them back and forth. Then he crooked three of his fingers down, right into the spot where he knew Gabe's prostate was, smirking when he heard the sharp keening noise from his husband that confirmed he had found the bundle of nerves. One of these days, Sam thought to himself, he was gonna see just how many orgasms he could get out of Gabriel, just by milking his prostate. He continued to rub at it relentlessly until he felt the blonde's thighs quivering, and the snarky comments had completely stopped.

Then, and only then did the fingers leave, and Gabriel felt miserably empty. He whined his disapproval but perked back up when he heard the distinctive sound of a condom wrapper being opened. A few seconds later, and he heard the wheeze and quiet drizzle of lube being poured, and got a little more excited. "C'mon Sammy, put it in me already. You're a Sambarine, shoot off your torpedo already!"

"For Christ's sake." Came the exasperated groan, even as he felt the slick and blunt head of Sam's cock nudge against his entrance. "Do you ever shut up?" And just like that, he snapped his hips forward, bottoming out in one quick stroke.

"Ohmigod-!" Gabriel gasped before it quickly bit off into a moan as he felt a hand wrap around his own dick.

Sam chuckled and swept his hair out of his eyes before slipping his hand back to grip bruisingly at Gabriel's hip. He began to thrust slowly and shallowly, stroking Gabe's shaft in tandem.

"You- are far too good at this for your own good," Gabriel whined, canting his hips back to meet the thrusts, shivering when he felt Sam's wedding band brush the sensitive skin on the underside of his cock. It was still fucking surreal, no matter how many months it had been. He was married. Like, what the fuck. Speaking of which... "By the- oh yes, there, y-yeah Sammy- Uh, by the way, did you have any preference on wedding venues?"

"Are you serious." Sam drawled, pulling out, before he manhandled Gabriel onto his back, pinning his wrists with one hand. "We're having this conversation," He grunted as he pushed back into Gabe "right now? Can it wait?"

"I'm trying-" He panted, wriggling his wrists to no avail. "- to decide whether or not to try and get a beach reserva-ation." Gabriel cut off with a breathy moan as Sam hit his prostate with his cock.

"A- mmpf, -a beach wedding? How cliche can you get?"

He bit his lip, wrapping his legs around Sam's thighs, trying to pull him deeper. "Wanna be Ariel?"

"We're getting a divorce," Sam growled, letting his hands free, to cup his chin and kiss him, long and lazy. 

Gabriel pulled away, and stuck out his bottom lip out, pouting. "I thought you loved me." His back arched up as Sam went back to jacking him off, while simultaneously picking up the pace with a low grunt.

"You're right, I do. But we are not having a Disney wedding, goddamnit." Sam chuckled, breathing labored and heavy.

Gabriel leaned back up to give him a chaste kiss. He lingered, whispering against his lips, "I'm putting a Sebastian topper on the cake, and you can't stop me."

The taller man barked out a laugh, kissing his cheek and sped up until his thrusts became erratic and unsteady. He hunched over Gabe, panting as he came.

Through it all, Gabriel squeezed tightly around him, trying to help him get all that he could out of it. He sighed unhappily when Sam sat up to pull off the condom, tying it up and tossing it into the little waste bin at the side of the bed. (It was there for this very reason.)

"Forgetting som-" Gabe's words were cut off as a hot, warm mouth wrapped around his cock, letting out a well-placed curse, toes curling.

Sam looked up at him with those goddamn eyes and goddamn eyelashes. "You're trying to send me to an early grave."

The brunette pulled off with a sly grin. "Of course, I'm only doing this to collect your life insurance."

"Ugh, you little shit, I love you." He groaned, letting his head fall back onto the excessively stacked pillows.

Sam laughed and went back to blowing him. He didn't have to do it for long before Gabriel was blowing his load and then Sam fucking swallowed it. Like a total winner. Y'know the saying, spitters are quitters.

"Oh my fucking God." He panted, closing his eyes and throwing an arm over his eyes, nose resting in the crook of his elbow. 

"My name is Sam, but you can call me God if you like." The brunette parroted his words back at him, hauling himself up to hold his husband close to his chest.

Gabriel lightly punched his chest. "I hate you."

Sam snorted. "Sure Jan, sure."

He narrowed his eyes at him. "When did you ever have the time to watch The Brady Bunch?"

"There are like, three channels on this TV. It was that or Days of our Lives." He shrugged.

He rolled his eyes and snuggled up. "Good morning to you too, babe."

Sam glanced at the clock. "It's still only six twenty-two. We have time for another round."

"No. We do not." Gabriel insisted. "I'm in my early forties. My refractory period is two hours and eating an entire cow."

"When then we have time for a nap at least."

"Nap it is." He laughed.

Sam smiled, and pulled the sheet over the both of them, settling in for what was bound to be the opposite of a nap, with the love of his life.


	12. Chapter 12

"You're _absolutely sure_ you want to do this?"

Sam shot Gabriel a glare, arms crossed and shoulders slightly tensed. "For the millionth time, _yes._ "

Gabe grimaced at their boarding passes, clutching his suitcase to his side. "I'm uprooting you from everything you ever knew." He tucked the tickets back in their white envelope and shoved them into the internal pocket of his coat. "This is gonna be the last time we see the ocean till my tour goes to goddamn Miami in six weeks." He stuck his arm out; gesturing at the ocean and its seemingly endless horizon as the boat meandered through the water.

"I always wanted to see the world Gabe. Now I get to, and I'll have you by my side." The taller man murmured, pulling him into a one-armed side hug.

"Yeah, okay, okay. Let's just get back inside the boat cabin, yeah?" Gabriel shuddered. He really wasn't a big fan of boats now, but the bigger the better was now his guideline.

(He'd had Dean explain what happened with his boat, over drinks with his husbands patchwork family. "Well it's simple, your oil got out of your crankcase, and into your combustion chamber and started burning, hence the blue smoke. Then you started to burn away the oil, leaving the parts to gain friction with each other, causing that squealing. By continuing to run it, you were essentially dooming your engine. From my guess, your piston blew and shattered the crankshaft." It sounded true, Gabe just hadn't had any idea what his brother-in-law was saying.)

"Alright honey." Sam said sympathetically, even if it was a little fake and laced with a tiny bit of mirth. "We'll go in, and get away from the scary ocean."

"Ugh, I hate you." Gabriel stuck his tongue out.

"No you don't. You agreed to hyphenating your surname for me when we legally get hitched." Sam mussed his hair up, dropping a light kiss on top.

"Shut your face, Samuel Winchester-Novak." He huffed, leaning into him. "You're not endearing yourself to me."

Sam laughed, and walked back into the sheltered area of the boat, taking a seat by the snack bar, glancing out at the ocean dreamily.

Gabriel bought a packet of skittles, two bags of Fritos and two Cokes from the girl behind the counter, passing over a ten when he saw the price and outwardly cringed. Ah, inflation and price of convenience. You _could_ make a sandwich at home for 30¢, but you could also watch a stranger do it behind a glass barrier for eight dollars! Coffee is a lot cheaper if you buy it in bags, grind it, and brew it yourself. And, it tastes significantly less burnt than both Starbucks and Petes. (Burnt does not equal better people.) But, hey, to each their own.

"Here," he tossed the Fritos into Sam's lap, setting down one of the cokes, it's condensation beading down the side. "Got the good shit for you."

"God bless you." Sam said with faux seriousness, the deadpan delivery and straight face destroyed by the loud crinkling as the little snack bag was opened up.

"Of course." He smirked, before shaking his head briefly. "Hey, you have your ID, yeah?"

The owner of the copy shop on the island had taken one look at Sam, and began creating a fake ID for him without batting an eye. It looked really fucking real too, holographic stickers and everything. Sam would need it to get through security. Charlie had taken a leap ahead in thinking, and created a paper trail for both him and Dean, birth certificates and baby pictures, and a mortgage on a house in their parents name. Not to mention the college records, as well as school records. Charlie thought it was hilarious to make Sam a demure nerd, and Dean a wilily trouble maker.

"Yes, Gabe. Calm down, we double, triple, quadruple checked _everything._ Just drink your soda and relax, yeah?"

\-----

Airports were designed by Satan, a little taste of what hell would be like. An eternity of TSA and Security lines, making elderly women surrender their canes and walkers, because they were considered 'weapons' but letting some little shithead preteen with a katana through. Gabriel would be happy to never set foot in an airport again, except, he was unfortunately a very highly paid and easily recognizable comedian. At least he got booze on the plane and could bill it to the agency.

He toed his shoes off, and slung his backpack into the gray plastic bin with a grimace. He wiggled his toes, his bright pink socks with corgis on them standing out sharply against the worn and frayed 'carpet'. He got a weird look from some suburban mom, who he winked at.

She glared at him, and turned back to her balding husband.

"Sir, could you please step through?" The TSA agent asked, polite and cordial, but he could tell from his eyes that this man's soul had been crushed a long time ago.

Gabriel grinned, and stepped in, planting his feet on the outlined footprints. "Is this like in the tv shows? Can you see my underwear?"

"No, sir." The agent said tiredly. "You're clear to go forward."

"Thank you!" He beamed, walking past jauntily. Gabriel rocked back and forth on his heels as he waited for his bag, and shoes to come out. He looked up at Sam, who looked completely lost even as the TSA guy walked him through it.

He snatched up the tennis shoes, and slung his backpack over one of his shoulders, padding a few feet over to the tan benches. He wiggled them in, crushing the heels as he couldn't be bothered to untie them.

Gabriel looked at his Ariel watch that Charlie had gotten him as a joke, but he got unreasonably attached and only took it off to bathe. They had a good hour before their flight, so he waited for Sam patiently.

"Why in the world do you guys do this kind of thing? Why did I have to take my shoes off?" Sam complained, sitting down and putting aforementioned shoes back on.

"Because you might've had a B, O, M, B, in them, obviously. You walked through that metal detector to check for weapons." He shrugged. "It's all a placebo thing. None of this would actually stop a terrorist."

The brunette grimaced. "You people are fucked up."

"What can I say? We like blowing people up I guess. Now, why don't we stroll around the corridor looking for somewhere to waste our time?"

"Alright. Sounds good to me."

Gabriel grinned, and dragged him towards the food court.

\-----

"Passengers flying business class on flight A237 LAX to Sacramento may now begin boarding." A cheerful flight attendant chirped over the intercom.

"Hey- that's us Sammy!" Gabriel tugged his husbands arm. "C'mon, grab your bag!"

"Okay- okay! Breathe Gabriel, it's not gonna fly away in the next ten minutes." He paused. "Right? It won't, yeah?"

"Yeah, okay, you're right." Gabe grumbled unhappily. "I just wanna get going."

"Anxious to get to Nor Cal, huh babe?"

"It's a forty five minute flight, I could legit watch two episodes of 30 Rock in that time. I'm not anxious so much as ready to get the hell out of this airport."

"Mhm."

"Oh shut up!" Gabe shoved the taller man in a show of annoyance, but not applying any real pressure.

"Nah. Then you'd forget how much you love me without my constant reminding." He teased, leaning down and kissing the blonde, short and chaste.

"Just get on the plane you nerd."

\-----

 _"Folks, you may now take off your seat belts, as we're at our cruising altitude of four thousand feet, and a half hour away from out destination."_ The pilots voice rang out on the crackling intercom as the seatbelt lights turned off.

"I can't believe this actually works!" Sam said excitedly, peering out the window, nose smushed against the glass. "I've always wanted to go on an airplane!"

"Yeah, it's cool I guess." Gabriel looked up from his color by number. "I mean, we did kinda fight gravity and win."

"You're a shit head, you know that?"

"Obviously."

\-----

"For the last time, calm down." Sam shook Gabriel by the shoulders.

"Fuck. I hate doing this. Let's go hide in the Caribbean for the rest of our lives."

"No."

 _"Ladies and Gentlemen,"_ the voice over the speakers announced _"Put your hands together for Gabriel Novak!"_

There was a deafening roar of people cheering, and he glanced helplessly at the taller man, who shoved him towards the stage.

Gabriel took a deep breath and plastered on a smile, waltzing onto stage.

He grabbed the microphone off the stand and began. "Hey folks, how's your night going so far?"

Cheering.

"Well that's great. But enough about you. My turn." He grinned. "So, as some of you could have guessed, my girlfriend dumped me. And hey, guess," He pointed at himself "who gets to tell you about some of the shit she did?"

More laughter and cheers combined with some obnoxious whistling.

"But, you've gotta tell me this." Gabriel glanced over to the wings where Sam was standing. "When we get to the end, I think you guys should help me decide whether or not to send a thank you card."

He was so in love, and right then and there, everything was perfect.

**_The End_ **

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap guys! This thing is actually finished! Wild. Just gotta say, reading everyone’s comments, and seeing kudos, it always made updating this fic rewarding! Special thanks to lunawolf8074, CrowNoYami, and xanydee for reading all the chapters and commenting! You guys were honestly the thing that kept me working on this mess. Anyways, I'll probably be posting something in the couple of... months probably. Ta!

**Author's Note:**

> come check me out on [tumblr](http://mooseinaboot.tumblr.com/) I mostly post supernatural and memes.


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